


Under the Apple Tree

by jdmusiclover



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-11-04 02:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10981461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jdmusiclover/pseuds/jdmusiclover
Summary: After being hit by the Olympian Crystal, Robin is transported to Seattle, unable to return to any magical realm. When it becomes clear he has no way to return to his family, Robin finally decides to bury his broken heart in work–founding a landscaping business, Sherwood Forestry.  Fifteen years later, Robin receives an order from the last person he ever thought he’d see again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flslp87](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flslp87/gifts).



Under the Apple Tree

 

“What’s on the agenda for today, Mary?” Robin Locksley asked his secretary as he stepped into the small office of his landscaping business, Sherwood Forestry.

Mary flipped the page of her agenda book, looked down and nodded.  “You’ve got a delivery for 8 am.  A lady in Enchanted Estates ordered an apple tree to be planted on her front lawn.”

“Enchanted Estates?” Robin asked, idly shuffling through a stack of bills on his desk.  “I don’t believe I’ve heard of the place.”

“It’s one of those big, ritzy subdivisions in Misthaven.”

Robin sucked in a quick breath.  “Beg pardon?  What is the name of the city?”

“Misthaven, Washington” Mary answered.  “Tiny little town way up north.  It’s a hop, skip and a jump to the Canadian border.  I passed through there once on my way to…”

The woman talked on, but Robin didn’t tuned out.  _Misthaven_.  The word dredged up memories that were never far from the surface.

_Fifteen years_. 

It had been fifteen years since Hades had destroyed him with the Olympian Crystal.  Robin remembered that night like it was yesterday.  The god of the Underworld had been mad, obsessed with power, and everything had happened so quickly. 

One moment Hades was soliloquizing about the horrors of the weapon in his hands and the next, he was pointing it at Regina.  Robin hadn’t thought, hadn’t counted the cost, had simply acted.  The thought of Regina being killed, obliterated, filled him with fear like he’d never in his life felt and he knew he must do whatever it took to keep the mortal blow from landing upon it’s intended victim.

He’d stepped forward, taken the full power of the cursed crystal upon himself.  For the barest moment he’d felt a terrible, ripping pain, as he watched his body crumple senseless to the ground. 

And then the pain was gone.  All he could feel, all he could see was the agonized face of his soulmate standing before him.  He raised his hand, tried to cup her cheek, to comfort her, to let her know that he was at peace.  What happened to him didn’t matter as long as his sacrifice kept her safe.

The moment was far too short.  Long before he was ready, he felt himself slipping as darkness settled all around him and the end—his end—finally came.

But the end, it turned out, wasn’t truly the end at all.

He’d woken up to the persistent trill of a bird deep within the forest.   For a moment, he thought he’d been sent home, home to the Enchanted Forest, home to Sherwood Forest, but as he got to his feet, brushed himself off and began walking, it soon became abundantly clear that wherever the crystal had landed him, it was most assuredly not his home.

He’d wandered, confused, for a quarter of an hour before he came to the edge of the forest and found a paved road…a paved road that looked distinctly like the kind that could be found in Regina’s realm.

Robin followed the road until it took him to a huge, noisy, sprawling city, much like the one he and Roland and Marian…or Zelena, rather…had settled into after he’d been forced to leave Storybrooke the first time.  _New York_?  Had the Olympian Crystal taken him to New York?

“Hey, buddy, you okay?” a uniformed man with a badge asked, alerting Robin to the fact that he’d been standing stalk still in the middle of a crowded sidewalk.

“Have I arrived in New York?” Robin asked in bewilderment.

The man, if Robin wasn’t mistaken, he was one of the lawmen Regina called ‘police’, gave him a strange look.  “If you were trying to get to New York did you ever make a wrong turn,” he said finally.  He gestured toward his vehicle where the words “Seattle Police Department” were written boldly along the side.

“Seattle?” Robin asked, feeling the beginnings of a headache.  “I’ve never heard of it.  Is Seattle within the Land Without Magic as well?”

“The land without…” the officer began, eyes going wide, “Is there someone I can call to come get you, sir?  Clearly you’re not well.”

Robin dropped his eyes, feeling the tears sting at the back of his throat.  “No officer.  There’s no one.  I have no one.”

Over the course of the next year, Robin had done everything in his power to get back to Storybrooke, back to Regina, back to Roland.  He’d traveled the full length of this land the natives called the United States,  desperate to find his loved ones.

But when he’d finally reached the large rock that marked the Storybrooke town line, he found nothing, nothing but an empty stretch of road.  Storybrooke was gone.

Robin had continued searching, continued researching, continued looking for anyone, _anywhere_ who could help him, but eventually as he hit dead end after dead end, he came to realize that his search was hopeless.

Hades hadn’t obliterated Robin; he’d obliterated his heart by ripping him forever from the ones he loved.

With his last hopes dashed, Robin had chosen to return to Seattle, believing perhaps a fresh start, far from the town he’d lost, would help him heal.  Over the years, he’d discovered an enjoyment in the outdoors, of landscaping in particular.  Finally, five years ago, he’d taken one of the biggest gambles of his life and founded Sherwood Forestry, his business and his livelihood.

Most days the long hours and the physically draining work kept Robin busy enough that he could almost forget about how very, very much he’d lost.

“Sir?  Mr. Locksley?” Mary asked, shaking Robin abruptly from his thoughts.

“Pardon me,” he murmured.  “Woolgathering.  So, Enchanted Estates, is it?”

“Yes, sir,” she said, handing him a slip of paper.  “Here’s the address, and if you don’t mind me saying, you should probably get going if you want to deliver the tree on time.  You know what traffic is like this time of the morning.”

Robin nodded, thanked his secretary, and made his way toward the nursery in search of the tree his newest customer had purchased.  An hour and a half later, Robin pulled up into the circle drive of a large, stately mansion. 

After ringing the doorbell, Robin stood back, mind still on those he’d loved and lost.  After a moment, Robin heard the sharp staccato of high heels against marble, and then the front door opened.

Robin pulled in a long breath, feeling as though he’d just been punched in the gut.

“Regina?” He breathed.

 

_Notes:_

_\--Hi there!  Because the muse literally won’t shut up lately, this happened—the start of yet another multi chapter.  This is my first foray into the land of Outlaw Queen fanfiction.  I’ve liked this couple since season 3 when they started, but this is the first time I’ve tried to tell their story._

_\--Hopefully it came across here in the first chapter, but the premise is this:  After getting zapped by the Olympian Crystal, Robin didn’t in fact die, but got sent to another city in the Land Without Magic—with no possible way to get back to Storybrooke, the Enchanted Forest, or any land with magic.  Now, 15 years later, at the start of season 7, Robin ends up delivering a tree to someone he thought he’d never see again._

_\--This story is dedicated to flslp87, who gave me the idea in the first place.  She’s the truest believer when it comes to OQ, keeping the faith even when it looks like all hope is lost._

_\--I’m not sure how long this story will be, nor do I know exactly where I’m going from here, but I do know one thing.  In the next chapter we’ll learn what is going on with Regina—and just what reaction she might have to seeing Robin Hood at her front door._


	2. Chapter 2

Rayna Miller stepped into her heels and then gave herself one last look in her vanity mirror.  Makeup carefully applied, chin-length near-black hair neatly coifed, power suit both professional and distinctly feminine.  Rayna nodded at her reflection, pleased with the effect.  She looked every inch the confident and capable business woman.

Good thing, too.  This morning she had, quite possibly, the most important business meeting of her life.  Not that she’d had all that many business meetings in her life.  The daughter of an extremely successful real estate mogul, Rayna had never needed to work a day in her life.

But Rayna _wanted_ to work; wanted to support herself; wanted to make a name for herself.  She didn’t just want to be known as the daughter of the late Henry Miller.  She wanted to be known for her own accomplishments.

From a young age, Rayna had loved baking, loved the way various and sundry raw ingredients could be brought together to form something new, something delectable.  Desserts involving apples were her particular favorite.  She made an apple turnover that was without parallel.

In fact it was that very apple turnover that had started Rayna on her current career path.  She’d made the sweet, flaky dessert for one of her father’s business associates when he’d dined with the Millers, and the man had raved over it.

“Young lady,” he’d said, “you could create your own catering business with dishes such as this!”

And so she had.

Not long after Henry Miller passed of a sudden heart attack, Regina had used a portion of her inheritance money to open “Apple of My Eye Catering Service.”  She could make a mean lasagna when the situation required it, but she far preferred the jobs that required her to simply provide dessert for her customers.

Which was why this business meeting was so very, very important.

One evening, after a full day spent in the kitchen, she’d collapsed onto the sofa and sighed deeply.  “I am _so_ sick of having to make full meals for everyone,” she’d groused.  “I got into this business to make dessert.”

Her brother James looked up from the book he’d been perusing in his arm chair in the corner and shrugged.  “So make dessert.”

Rayna rolled her eyes.  “Make dessert?  Like it’s just that easy?  Yes, I’m sure my clients would be thrilled if I simply refused to make them entrees for their catered special occasions.”

James sighed, that familiar tragic look coming into his blue eyes once again.    “Rayna,” he’d said, “life is far too short to waste on a job you genuinely don’t enjoy.  If it’s baking that fulfills you, find a business venture that allows you to focus on that.”

James had been right.  Oh, the two of them tended to roll their eyes and snark at each other more than anything else, but Rayna knew her brother cared about her.  His suggestion that she find a job that allowed her to focus on her passion simply would not leave her.

And so, when Grandma’s Kitchen had opened not more than three blocks from her spacious home, the solution had come to Rayna with startling clarity.  If she could talk “Grandma”—Rayna still didn’t know the woman’s first name—into partnering with her, she could sell her own brand of apple-based desserts at the restaurant.  It really would be a win-win for both women.  Rayna could focus on the delicacies she preferred and Grandma would have a premiere line of desserts that could make a name for her café.  Grandma had been skeptical when Rayna first proposed the idea, concerned a wealthy heiress couldn’t be counted on, but Rayna had finally worn her down.

This morning at 9:00 sharp, she was to meet Grandma to make her pitch.  It was quite possibly the most important meeting of her life.  It felt as though her entire future rode on this meeting.

Satisfied that her appearance exuded precisely the mix of confidence and down-to-earth-ness that Rayna was looking for, she stepped from her bedroom and into her spacious kitchen. The large basket full of crisp Granny Smiths on the counter beckoned to her, and Rayna pulled on an apron and set to work to begin peeling.  She had a rehearsal dinner to cater this evening, and she needed to spend every free moment she had making the necessary preparations if she was to be ready in time.

She’d just started in on the second apple when the doorbell rang.

_Strange_.  She wasn’t expecting company.  Who could be bothering her at this time of the morning? 

Rayna shrugged, rinsed off her sticky hands, pulled her apron over her head, and made her way to the entrance foyer.  Opening the door, she found herself face to face with a man dressed simply in jeans, a tee shirt and sturdy work boots.

“Regina?”

For a moment, Rayna simply stared, her heart racing for a reason she couldn’t understand.  There was something so very, very _familiar_ about this man.  With his warm blue eyes, his sandy-colored hair, touched with gray at the temples, his scruff, there was just something about him…

“Regina?” the man said again taking a step forward.  “Is something the matter?”

Rayna shook her head and put her hand out, stopping the man in his tracks.  “There is no one by that name at this residence.  You must have the wrong address.”

She saw a brief flash of confusion and intense pain pass over the man’s handsome face before he took a deferential step backwards.  “Apologies, my lady,” he said.  “I…I…it’s just that you remind me of someone I once knew quite well.”

She peered at him for a moment, the feeling of déjà vu coming over her stronger than ever.  “No harm done,” she said beginning to close the door.  “I hope you find this woman you’re looking for.”

The man stepped a foot into the door way, effectively blocking her attempt to shut him out.  “Pardon,” he said, “but I’ve made quite a mess of this.  Allow me to begin again.  I’m Robin Locksley of Sherwood Forestry.”

He looked at her intently, as though hoping his name and title might mean something to her.  “Nice to meet you,” she said crisply.  “I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you still on my doorstep Robin Locksley of Sherwood Forestry?”

The man furrowed his brow.  “Did you not order an apple tree from my nursery?”

Rayna’s eyes narrowed.  “Yes.  I ordered an apple tree,” she said in her most regal and imperial tone, “but it was not to arrive until tomorrow.”

“I assure you,” Robin said, “your order was to be delivered this morning.  My secretary is quite diligent in her job.  Now, if you would kindly show me where your tree is to be planted?”

“I’ll be happy to,” Rayna said, eyes narrowing, “Tomorrow morning at 8:00 am sharp, just as I ordered.”

“I’m afraid that’s quite impossible, Miss…” he looked down at his work order, “Miller.  The tree has been uprooted and must be planted today lest the roots dry out.”

This couldn’t be happening!  Not today, not on the day of her meeting with Grandma!  Not when her entire future hung on this meeting!

“You don’t understand!” she said, a hint of desperation in her voice.  “I _cannot_ deal with this today.  If I miss my meeting….This is my one opportunity…She already believes I’m just a useless heiress.  If I cancel…Please.  I can’t fail!  Not again.”

Robin’s eyes softened and his hand came up to cup her cheek.  To Rayna’s intense confusion, she found the gesture comforting, _familiar_.  “No one believes you will fail,” he said, a gravelly note in his warm voice.  “You can do anything you put your mind to, and I will do anything in my power to assist you.”

Rayna’s eyes widened at the tender, supportive words.  She was quite sure she’d never met this man in her life, but something about him pulled at her, made her heart race, stilled her self-doubts.

“Do we…” she said breathlessly, “do we know each other?”

Robin glanced aside for a moment and then looked back at her with a sad smile.  “I assure you.  There’s no way I’d forget knowing you Reg…er…Rayna Miller.”

Something crackled between them, something deep and true and lasting.  Something that spoke of forever.  Rayna held his gaze for a moment before she blinked and took a step away.  She couldn’t deal with this…weird connection with the literal stranger on her doorstep. 

Instead, she focused on the problem at hand, desperate to make _something_ make sense again. “Look, I don’t know where, but somehow along the way there was a miscommunication.  I have a vitally important business meeting in half an hour, and if I cancel, if I’m late, the perfect career opportunity will slip through my fingers.  I simply cannot have my tree delivered this morning.  I can’t be here with you.”

“It’s no problem really,” Robin said.  “Simply show me where the tree is to be planted.  I’ve no need for your presence.”

“I will be gone most of the morning,” Rayna said.  “I will not be here to pay you when the job is done.”

Robin shrugged.  “All the better.  It’ll give me an excuse to call on you again.  Perhaps we might discuss the matter of payment tomorrow at the time you believed the delivery was to take place?  Perhaps we might even have cause to celebrate the successful completion of your business meeting today.”

Rayna eyed the man skeptically for another moment.  Something inside told her she could trust this Robin Locksley, could trust him with her life, let alone the planting of her apple tree.  “Very well,” she said.  “Return tomorrow at 8:00 am sharp, and I’ll have a check ready for you.  Maybe…maybe if you’re not too busy, you could stay for a fresh apple turnover and we can get to the bottom of this mix up.”

Robin bowed slightly, tender smile on his face.  “I shall look forward to it.”

_Notes:_

_\--So, I’ve decided to set an update schedule for myself.  This story will be somewhere around 8-10 chapters long, and I’ll update every Tuesday.  I seem to work best under a deadline, so this ought to motivate me to keep this story going._

_\--Back to the story!  Clearly something odd is going on here!  Regina not only doesn’t remember Robin, she doesn’t even remember her own identity.  Just what’s happened over the last decade and a half, and why it is that Regina believes she’s Rayna Miller, the caterer, rather than Regina Mills, the mayor, will be revealed in due course._

_\--In fact, we’ll start to get those answers in next week’s update!  We’ll not only follow Robin to his breakfast meeting with “Rayna” the next day, but Robin will also meet his rather reclusive neighbor, someone who can be very, very useful in helping Robin “wake up” his soul mate._

_\--Also…curious about Rayna’s brother, James?  Don’t worry; we’ll learn more about him as well!_


	3. Chapter 3

Robin had anything but a restful night.  His nerves were stretched tight, like the string of his favorite bow.  Thoughts and emotions he hadn’t experienced in years came flooding back, strong and poignant as ever.

It had been fourteen and a half years since he last saw Regina.  Fourteen and a half years since Hades shot him with the Olympian crystal and banished him to the far side of this fair country.  He remembered the early days just after it became apparent he would never return.  It had been agonizing wondering what had become of Storybrooke, of his family, of all those he loved. 

Had his sacrifice given Regina the time she needed to stop Hades once and for all or had Hades triumphed?  What became of Roland?  What about his newborn daughter who he’d not even had the chance to name?

The uncertainty had tortured him for years until finally the sharp edge of grief and fear had worn off.  As much as he tried, there was nothing he could do to help those he loved, nothing he could do to even learn their fate.  All he could do was endure, try to make a life for himself in this new land, live a life his soulmate, his son, his daughter could be proud of.

But with the events of this past day all those latent emotions came rushing back to the surface.  Somehow, someway Regina was here.  _Here!_   Had she fallen victim to Hades’ weapon as well?  Had she similarly sacrificed herself to save those she loved?  He sincerely hoped she hadn’t undergone that fate.

And he had reason to believe his hope was well founded.  After all, when he was banished he retained his memories.  He knew precisely what had befallen him, but Regina…Regina was not even aware of her true name.  Could it have been some sort of a curse that sent her here?  If a curse, were there others in this town of Misthaven?  Could…could Roland be here?  His daughter?

_Roland_.  He’d missed his son with a sharp ache that had only dulled, never completely left.   What had become of him after Robin’s banishment?  How had he adjusted to life as an orphan?  The lad would be an adult now, an adult in his young 20s.  And Robin’s daughter!  She’d be a teenager now.  Tears came to his eyes as he thought of all the years he’d missed with his children.

And so Robin had tossed and turned throughout the night.  Finally, at dawn, he’d arisen to shower and prepare for his breakfast meeting with Regina…or Rayna, rather.  He didn’t know what brought Regina here, what had happened in Storybrooke, or where everyone else had ended up, but he knew the key to learning those answers lay in bringing back his soulmate’s memories.   

The big question, of course, was _how_.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Robin set his fork back on his empty plate and hummed in pleasure.  “Delectable as always, Regina” he said, looking over at the woman sitting across from him.  “It’s no wonder Grandma enthusiastically endorsed your idea and agreed to sell your line of desserts.”

“Delectable as always?” she asked, her brows raising, “this is the first time you’ve tasted my baking…and my name’s _Rayna_.”

Robin felt his face flush.  It had been such a lovely morning.  They’d fallen into easy conversation from the first moment he stepped into her home.  It felt so very much like old times, like the delightful months they’d spent together before everything crashed around them.  It was so familiar, that for just a moment Robin forgot that she’d lost her memories.

“I…I merely assumed your food is always delicious,” he stammered rather lamely.  “My turnover was perfectly flaky and delicious.  That perfection is not born overnight.”

She continued looking at him skeptically.

“And…” he continued, “well…you remind me very much of a Regina I…knew…many years ago.”

And she did.  Clearly whatever curse or memory charm had befallen her had not changed her personality.  But for her lack of memories of any life besides the one she lived here in Misthaven, she was exactly as he remembered her.  The same strength, the same fire, the same passionate love for those she cared about.

The years had been kind to her.  Though more than a decade had passed since Robin last beheld her, she looked largely the same, only the tiny crow’s feet around her eyes betraying the passage of time.  She was so breathtakingly gorgeous Robin felt his heart stutter and then race just looking at her.

Gods but he’d missed her.

“I’m pleased you enjoyed it,” Regina (no _Rayna_ ; he mustn’t slip up again!) said, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.  “I’ve been making these turnovers for years, and they usually tend to go over well.”

Indeed they did.  Robin felt the familiar ache in his chest rise up as he remembered how very much Roland had loved Regina’s turnovers.  He’d rarely gotten sweets in the Enchanted Forest, but he had as much of a sweet tooth as any child, and Robin believed Regina had won his little boy’s heart that very day.

Afterwards, it became something of a tradition for them.  Whenever they had family dinner nights, Roland helped Regina roll out the dough and place the sweet apple filling inside, before running off to play video games with Henry.

“Robin?” she asked after a moment, and Robin realized he’d drifted off into his own thoughts.

“Apologies,” he said with a wry smile, “I’m afraid I was woolgathering for a moment.”

She gave him a piercing look and Robin held it, trying desperately not to squirm.  “It’s the oddest thing,” she breathed.  “You seem so very _familiar_.  I just had the weirdest sense of déjà vu that we’ve done this before, shared a meal, but that’s ridiculous, right?”

Robin’s heart picked up.  Was it possible she was beginning to remember.  “Are you sure it’s ridiculous?  Are you sure we’ve never met?  Perhaps in another place, another time.  I spent a fair amount of time in a town called Storybrooke in Maine.”

Her brow furrowed again.  “Storybrooke?  I can guarantee you I’ve never been there.  I’d certainly remember a town with such an unusual name.  And I’ve never been to the east coast.  I’ve lived here in Misthaven since….since…well that’s odd.  I can’t really remember when I came here….or where I lived before I came here…  At any rate, I’ve been living here, in this house, since long before James moved in.”

Robin felt a distinctly unpleasant jolt.  _James_?  Did this version of Regina have a boyfriend?  A husband?  Looking around, Robin noticed tennis shoes lined up at the doorway, far too big for Regina’s dainty feet, a distinctly masculine leather jacket hanging on the coat rack.  How had he missed it?

It had been a decade and a half since Robin had been banished; he certainly couldn’t blame Regina for moving on.  Still the thought hurt.

“Oh no,” Rayna rushed to reassure, clearly seeing the turmoil in his eyes.  “James isn’t my significant other; he’s my brother.”

Robin breathed a small sigh of relief…and then promptly felt guilty for it.  “He lives here with you?  I’m sorry; It’s really none of my business...”

“It’s okay,” she reassured. “James and I have always had a…complicated relationship.  We’ve never been particularly close, more likely to snipe at each other than get along, but he’s my _brother_.  A while back, he lost his wife and his hand, and he was a total mess.  I asked him to move in with me, at least until he got back on his feet and learned to navigate life with a disability.”

Robin sucked in a quick breath.  _He lost a hand_?  Was it possible?  Could this “James” Regina thought was her brother actually be Hook? 

“I’m so sorry,” Robin said after a moment.  “It must have been terrible for him.  How did it happen.”

Rayna opened her mouth and then closed it with a snap.  “You know…it’s the weirdest thing.  I can’t really remember.  It must have been a car accident or something…”

_Or something_.

The questions swirled in Robin’s head.  Was Emma the wife “James” had lost?  What happened to her?  Had the savior actually fallen to a villain?  Was that why Regina and Killian, at the very least, had been cursed?

“It was a terrible time,” Rayna continued, “and as usual my next door neighbor, Robert Goldson didn’t make things any easier.  He’s one of those personal injury attorneys.  You’ve probably seen his billboards throughout town. ‘Hurt in a car accident?  Let me make a deal for you!’.  He’s a real piece of work.  I suspect he’d sue his own grandmother if he felt it would be lucrative enough for him.”

_Gold.  Gold was here too?_

“I’m sorry,” Robin said.  “It must have been a difficult time for you both.”

“It was,” Rayna said, and then shrugged, “but we survived, and now things are better.”

They fell into a pleasant silence for a moment, a silence only broken by the clock chiming the hour.  Looking up at it, Robin gave a start.  _Noon_!  He’d been here four hours?  He’d enjoyed his time so much it felt like it had only been a few short moments.

Robin got rather reluctantly to his feet.  “I’m afraid I must be going,” he said with very sincere regret.  “I’ve a bit of work to attend to at the nursery, but I’ve enjoyed this morning immensely.”

Rayna got to her feet as well.  “I did too.  Maybe…maybe we could do it again sometime?”

Robin smiled down at her, wanting nothing more than to lean down and kiss her, knowing Rayna was not yet ready for that.  “I would love to.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Six hours later, Robin trudged up the stairs and down the hall to his apartment.  Stepping inside he crossed to the refrigerator and grabbed himself a beer before settling into his favorite chair in the living room.

It had been quite the day.  There had been enough work to keep him occupied at the nursery that he hadn’t had a chance to assess his time with “Rayna”.  Now, in the comfort of his own home, he finally could.

The morning had been enjoyable, of course, but he wouldn’t consider it an unqualified success.  He still had no idea how to restore Regina’s memories.  At least she’d expressed a desire to see him again.  Perhaps he’d receive some new inspiration before he saw her again.

There was a sudden knock at the door.  _Curious_.  Robin wasn’t expecting anyone.  He set his beer down on a coaster and went to the door.

“Hi,” said the man on the other side.  “You probably don’t remember me, but I’m Henry Mills, and this is my daughter, Lucy.”

_Notes:_

_\--Well there you go!  The mystery of Regina’s brother’s identity is revealed (as is the identity of Robin’s neighbor that I teased in my last notes section).  With the addition of Rayna’s neighbor, Robert Goldson, the smarmy lawyer, all three of the returning cast are now accounted for.  The question, of course, is are there any other familiar faces in Misthaven, and if not….where are they?_

_\--For those of my readers who are CS fans, take a deep breath and remember “James” is cursed.  No, Emma isn’t with him right now, but the reason for that may not be exactly what he believes._

_\--Up next: We turn the clock back a few hours and find out what’s been going on with Henry…and how he reacts to the cute little girl who showed up at his door claiming to be his daughter at the very end of season 6.  Through his conversation with Lucy, we get quite a few answers about just what led to Regina, Gold and Killian being cursed in the town of Misthaven.  When Henry realizes that his next door neighbor is actually Robin Hood, he decides to go to him and request his help as he and Lucy start trying to put things to rights._


	4. Chapter 4

_A few months ago…_

Lucy Mills stared, frozen in terror as the darkness grew and shifted before her.

“Run!  Lucy _run!”_ Her mother screamed from behind her. 

Something inside her balked at the idea of leaving her mother to the darkness; not when it had already taken her father.  For a split second she remained rooted to the spot, indecision torturing her.

“Go!” he mother called again, and this time, the panic in her voice spurred Lucy on.  She took off running, tears streaming down her face as she heard the horrible sounds of the monster advancing and then her mother screaming.  She chanced one glance behind her and watched in horror as the darkness, now a great, towering spiral of black smoke, enveloped her mother.  When it retreated, her mother was gone.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy sprinted toward the field.  There was no time to worry about her mother and father right now.  She _must_ get away from the darkness.  She must protect the book.  She had one chance, just one chance left.

She had to get back to Storybrooke.

Lucy looked back over her shoulder as she reached the first beanstalk.  The monster was gaining on her.  Heart pounding, she searched the plant, but no bean was to be found.  The second yielded no better results.  Finally, on the third plant, she found one, single bean.  It was still green, barely formed, but it was her only hope.

Pulling the bean free from its vine, she threw it roughly to the ground.  A weak portal appeared before Lucy, and she jumped in, but something stopped her progress.  Looking up, heart in her throat, Lucy saw the darkness, now in the form of a huge, hideous giant reaching down to grab the storybook.  Lucy tightened her hold on the book, holding it so tightly, she felt the hard cover bite into her arms.

But she was no match for the darkness.  After one quick tug, the monster pulled the book free, and Lucy tumbled backwards, the portal closing over her.  She closed her eyes, pushing the horrible events of the past night from her mind and thinking with all her might of her Grandma Regina, her Grandma Emma, her Grandpa Killian.  She may have failed at protecting her parents, the storybook, but if anyone could fix the mess, it was her grandparents. 

She only hoped the darkness wouldn’t be able to follow her to storybook, because if it did, everything would truly be lost.

~o~q~o~q~o~q~o~q~o~q~

_Present day_

Henry stared at the blank Word document, the cursor blinking at him, mocking him.  Finally he pushed away from the computer, getting up and pacing in frustration.  His editor was going to kill him.  The first five chapters of his new book were due in a week, and he’d yet to write a single word.

The story just wasn’t there.

Henry had been a writer for as long as he could remember.  From the moment he could string letters together to form words, he’d been writing stories.  It was the only thing that had gotten him through some of his worst moments when the other children in the group home were particularly cruel.  He’d spun fantastic tales about fairy tales, about heroes defeating villains, about good triumphing over evil, about children who had more family than they knew what to do with.

He was like any other orphan.  There was a part of him who hoped his family would come for him, who hoped a new family would adopt him, who hoped someone, anyone would want him.

But this wasn’t a fairy tale.  This was the real world.  Nobody wanted him.  The sooner he got that through his thick skull the better.

False hope was worse than no hope at all.

And so, when Henry had aged out of the group home, he’d taken odd jobs, spending every free moment he could writing.  A year ago, his first manuscript had finally been picked up by an editor and had subsequently been published.

That first book had, for some reason, been particularly near to his heart.  He’d written a story about a girl whose parents had sent her through a magical wardrobe to save her from an impending curse.  The girl had grown up and eventually found her parents.  Through the love and belief of the son she’d given up for adoption when he was born, she’d managed to break the curse and help an entire town remember who they truly were.

The book had sold like crazy, quickly earning Henry enough to quit his dead end jobs, rent a nice apartment, and write full time.

His publisher had raved about the book, requesting a sequel almost right out of the gate.  He’d promised a continuation of the story, more adventures with the fairy tale characters who Henry had spent so much time thinking about they almost felt like family.

But now, when it came down to it, the words just _would not_ come.  This was his big break and he was about to spectacularly blow it.

There was a quick, urgent knock at his door, and Henry looked up, grateful for the interruption, curious about who might be knocking.  He never had visitors.  No one gave a damn about him.

Only one way to find out.

Henry opened the door to find a little girl, adorable with her black hair and dark brown eyes, her cheeks dimpling when she smiled.

“Are you Henry Mills?” she asked.

“Yeah, who are you?”

She smiled widely.  “I’m Lucy.  I’m your daughter.

~o~q~o~q~o~q~o~q~o~q~

Half an hour later, Henry sat back in his chair, looking over at the girl, Lucy, who’d barged into his home, insisting she was his daughter, who showed no indication she intended to ever leave.

What was he supposed to do with her?

She’d prattled on for a good ten minutes about darkness and curses and his family being in trouble and something happening to her mother, but none of it made any sense.

Henry had thought about calling the cops, but something had stopped him.  There was something…familiar…about the girl.  Something about her tale resonated with him.  It was impossible, of course.  She either had a _very_ vivid imagination or she was nuts.  But still, something about what she said seemed _right_.

Maybe he was starting to go crazy too.  Too much time cooped up in his apartment.

“And just who is it again that you think is your mother, my wife?”

Lucy sighed dramatically.  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.  Just… _please_ father!  Please look at the book.  I know it’s not, you know, _the_ storybook, but the darkness got it.  I tried, I really did, but it was too strong for me.”

“ _What_ was too strong for you?”

“The darkness.”

Henry sighed.  They were going around in circles.

“Look,” he said, running a hand through his thick, dark hair, “if I read your little storybook, will you leave me alone?”

“That’s all I ask,” Lucy said, passing over the book.  “It’s not perfect, I know, but I did my best to write down our story—yours, mine, mama’s, our family’s.”

Henry made a non-committal sound in the back of his throat as he took hold of the book and flipped it open.  It landed on an illustration of what looked like a family dinner.  A large group of people…including one who looked eerily like him when he’d been around 14…sat around a table laden with food.

And as Henry looked at the picture, suddenly it happened.  A whoosh, as of some sort of energy, electricity burst forth and washed over him.  Suddenly images, memories started racing through his head.  Him with his mom when he was five years old.  Going to find his birth mom.  Breaking the curse.  Neverland.  The final battle.  And then newer memories as well.  A woman with dark skin and laughing eyes.  Meeting her, falling in love with her, marrying her, having a daughter with her.

_Lucy_.

With a swift intake of breath, Henry looked up, tears forming in his eyes as he remembered.  “Lucy,” he said, voice gravelly with emotion.  “You found me.”

She let out a long breath, relief evident in her eyes.  “That’s what this family does.”

He crushed her to him in a hug.  His little girl!  He’d never let her go again.

~o~q~o~q~o~q~o~q~o~q~

Robin felt his jaw drop as he looked at the man standing in the hallway just outside his door.  He vaguely recognized him as the mysterious recluse who lived in apartment 108.

“Did you…” he stammered.  “Did you just say you were _Henry Mills_?  Regina’s son?!”

The man before him smiled broadly.  “Do you remember?  Do you actually _remember_?”

“I remember everything.  _Everything_ ,” Robin said, tears rushing to the back of his eyes.  “But you…you’re all grown up.  What are you _doing_ here?  What happened?  And did you say that’s your daughter?”

“You must be Grandpa Robin,” the little girl said.  “I’m Lucy.”

Robin took the little girl’s hand, dazedly, and then looking back at Henry.  For a split second the men simply looked at each other, and then they moved as one, clasping each other in a long, hard hug.

“You were dead!” Henry said, voice rough.  “Mom saw Hades hit you with the crystal.  How is this even possible?  We had a funeral; she was so strong through all of it, but I could see it in her eyes.  She was barely holding it together.  If it wasn’t for all the villains and curses that just kept coming at us over the next few months, I don’t know how she’d have survived the grief.”

Robin felt a tear slide down his cheek.  “Come in,” he said, stepping aside, and sweeping his hand forward in welcome.  “I believe we all have tales we need to tell.”

~o~q~o~q~o~q~o~q~o~q~

“And so,” Lucy finished, “when the darkness made it through, it cursed Storybrooke again.  Grandma Regina and Grandpa Killian and Great-grandpa Rumple just…disappeared, and everyone else fell under a sleeping curse.”

Robin felt his heart stutter and then race. It was all starting to make sense--“Rayna Miller” having no idea who she truly was.  Her brother James.  The neighbor Robert.  It was them; it had to be.

“How did you know to come here, Lucy?” Robin asked.  “Misthaven is on the other side of the country from Storybrooke.  How did you find us.”

Lucy grinned, reached into her pocket and pulled out a pen.  “This led me to Father,” she said.

Henry hugged his daughter to himself and smiled up at Robin.  “My daughter is a marvel.  After the darkness cast the curse, she didn’t lose her head.  Instead, she went to Mom’s vault, found a locator spell, poured it on my Author’s quill and followed it to me.”

“But how did you know your father was here and alive?” Robin asked.

“I felt it,” Lucy said, putting a hand to her chest, “in here.  Tiger Lily told me I’d be reunited with my father, and somehow I just knew he was here.”

“And now we have to find a way to break the curse,” Henry said.  “Maybe if we can get the whole family together again, all awake and remembering who they are, we can find a way to make a stand against the darkness.  We have to defeat it before it destroys all the realms.  And…and if we don’t defeat it, I’m afraid there will be no way to save my wife.”

Robin reached forward, laying a hand on Henry’s shoulder.  “We _will_ defeat this darkness, never fear,” he said firmly.  “You have the heart of the truest believer.  You have the strength of your parents, the fighting spirit of your mother.  We _will not_ fail.  And I assure you, my bow is ever at your disposal.”

“Thanks,” Henry said.  “I have a feeling we’re going to need it, although what use weapons—or even magic—are against evil incarnate, I don’t know.”

“We’ll find a way,” Robin assured.  Have you any idea how to proceed?”

Lucy shrugged.  “We hadn’t really figured out much yet.  We were about to go to dinner and make plans for “Operation Defeat the Darkness”, when Father remembered there was someone named Robin Locksley living a few doors down.  We decided to check it out.”

“You have no idea how relieved I was when it was you who opened the door,” Henry said.  “I still can’t believe you’re alive.  _Alive_!  It’s better than I’d ever hoped.  But about the plan, the only thing I’ve been able to come up with is…kind of a needle in a haystack.  If we can find some way to find Hook and Regina and Rumple, maybe they can help us with the next phase.  Thing is, they could be literally anywhere.  In any realm.  And even when we find them, there’s no way of knowing what the curse did to them.”

Robin smiled broadly.  “As it happens, I can be of assistance in that matter.”

“Yeah?” Henry asked.  “How?  Lucy used the last of the locator potion on me.”

“As luck would have it,” Robin said, “a locator potion will not be necessary.  I know precisely where to find your family.  What say I make you and the lass dinner, and we can devise the next phase of the plan?”

 

_Notes:_

_\--Sorry for the lack of update last week!  I went to the OUAT con in Chicago the weekend before last, and I basically spent all last week going through my notes and recordings and making transcripts and summaries, and just, in general reliving the con.  It was such a fantastic weekend!  The result, though, was that a grand total of_ none _of my WIPs got updated last week.  Hopefully I’m back to my normal update schedule, now, though._

_\--With this chapter, we start to get some idea of what happened to leave Regina, Killian and Gold without their memories._

_\--Up next:  Rayna can’t get the landscaper out of her head and, in fact, starts having weird flashes of memory.  James encourages her to pursue it; love is worth it.  The next day, Robin shows up at her doorstep—with Henry and Lucy in tow.  Will the presence of her son and her granddaughter jog anything in Regina’s memory?_


	5. Chapter 5

Rayna tossed and turned, her sleep restless and troubled.  She didn’t remember ever having such a rough night’s sleep.  Finally, an hour and a half before dawn, she decided to get up.  After starting the coffee, she gathered the ingredients she needed and got started on the pastries she hoped to feature at Grandma’s that day.

Baking always relaxed and focused her, and she needed it more than she had in weeks.

Her meager sleep the night before had been punctuated by odd dreams, more like flashes of impressions.  Most were gone as soon as she woke, but there was one dream she just couldn’t shake.   She saw herself with long hair, simply dressed.  She wore a red, velvet dress with a tight corset and a plunging neckline.  Looked like something out of a Renaissance fair. 

And _he_ was there.  The landscaper, Robin Locksley.  Whatever her other dreams had entailed, she knew he featured prominently in all of them.  She blushed as she thought of the one dream she particularly remembered.  Robin had smiled at her and then leaned down to kiss her.  She’d taken his hand, led him behind her up a stone staircase and then into her bedroom.

Rayna poured herself a tall cup of coffee, angry with herself and the feelings the dream elicited.  She was a full grown woman, not some silly teenager with a crush.  Robin Locksley was a handsome man; there was no point in denying that, but Rayna had given up on love a long time ago.  It hurt too much when it inevitably crumbled.

What was it about Robin that kept him at the forefront of her thoughts?  She didn’t even _know_ him.  Not really.  They’d spent, what?  A couple hours together?  He was her _landscaper_!  Why couldn’t she get him out of her head?

_Soulmates._

Rayna dragged in a deep breath at the word her thoughts oh-so-helpfully conjured.  What was _up_ with her today?  There was no such thing as a soulmate!  And even if there was, it would take more than a morning spent over coffee and apple turnovers to find one.

But deep down, in the honest part of her being, Rayna couldn’t deny that the word resonated—and it seemed perfectly suited to Robin Locksley.

“Just…. _stop being an idiot_!” Rayna growled aloud.

“I do hope you’re talking to the dough you’re kneading and not to me, sister dearest,” came the sleepy, masculine voice behind her.

Rayna turned around and glared at her brother.  “Why not both?  If the shoe fits…”

He brought his good hand to his chest and staggered back as though he’d been shot in the heart.  _Idiot_.  Rayna watched as James ran a hand through his hair—making it stick up in every direction—pour himself a mug of coffee and then sit at the kitchenette.

“I do believe this is the first time you’ve ever woken before me, Ray,” James said, glancing over the newspaper sitting on the table.  “Is everything okay?”

Rayna turned back toward the dough, gave it one last punch and then put it in a bowl to rest and rise.  “Of course everything’s okay.  Why wouldn’t it be.”

James sighed behind her.  “Rayna, I’ve known you since you were born.  I know when something is bothering you, and this morning, something most assuredly _is_ bothering you.  So what say you save us both time and simply tell me.  You know I’ll get it out of you eventually anyway.”

Rayna glared at him for another moment and then sighed.  She sat heavily in the chair across from James.  “It’s stupid.”

“I’m quite the good listener,” James said.  “And…it would be a kindness on your part.  Perhaps helping someone else through her troubles will help me to move past…my own tragedy.”

James’s voice broke on the last word, and for a moment he looked away, taking a deep breath, obviously trying to regain control of himself.  Rayna felt the shame and the pity well up within her.  Why was she so hung up over a crush when he was dealing with the loss of his wife and a permanent disability?

“It’s just…” she began.  “Did you see the new apple tree out front?”

“Aye.  Sound investment, I’d wager.  Will be most helpful in your baking endeavors.”

“Exactly,” Rayna said, looking down into the black depths of her coffee and fiddling with the handle.  “It was…it was delivered and planted by this man, Robin Locksley.  And, well, he came back the next morning and we had breakfast and talked…”

“And you’ve developed feelings for this Robin?” James asked.  Trust him to get right to the heart of the matter.

“Yes… _no!..._ I don’t know!” Rayna said, getting to her feet and starting to pace.  “I feel this strange…pull…toward him, and I just can’t stop thinking about him.  It’s ridiculous, totally asinine.  He’s just the guy who planted my tree, for heaven’s sake.  These feelings—whatever they are—are just stupid.  No one falls for someone that fast.  Besides.  I tried the whole romance thing, and I never want to do it again.”

James’s blue eyes were pools of sympathy and understanding.  “I know what happened with Daniel was traumatic.”

“Understatement of the year.”

Daniel had been her high school sweetheart, but her mom had never approved.  Didn’t think Daniel was good enough for her little girl.  On that last fateful day, Cora had screamed at him, hurling insults and insisting they never see each other again.  Daniel had left as angry as Rayna had ever seen him.  And his anger must have occupied his thoughts and kept him from paying close enough attention to the road.  She’d gotten word an hour later that he’d been killed instantly in a car accident.

“But,” James continued, “that doesn’t mean you must remain alone forever.  Love is worth it.  Love is so very, very worth it.  Even now, I wouldn’t trade a single, beautiful, perfect moment I shared with my Emma, even to escape the crushing pain her loss has brought to me.  I may feel as though someone reached into my chest and crushed my heart, but those years I spent with my sweet wife were worth every bit of it.”

“That’s great for you,” Rayna started, “but…”

“Shh,” James said, “I wasn’t finished yet.”

Rayna rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“Rayna, if you feel a connection to this landscaper, explore it,” James said before taking a sip of his coffee.  “Perhaps nothing will come of it, but perhaps it will.  Love is so very, very worth it, and if you let Robin go without even exploring the possibilities, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.  Just…think about it, alright?”

Rayna was silent for a moment, and then nodded.  “Fine.  I’ll think about it.  Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” James said, draining the last of his coffee and then getting to his feet.  “I’ve got to head down to the Warrior Swan.  Do a check on the inventory, put in orders for the stock we’re low on.  Get a wanted add written up for a new bartender.  That sort of thing.”

“Have fun,” Rayna said as her brother disappeared up the stairs to get ready for the day.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Think about it, Rayna most definitely did.  She thought about it as she punched down the dough once more, rolled it flat, slathered it with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, and then rolled it up to form cinnamon rolls.  She thought about it as she cleaned up the mess of her kitchen.  She thought about it as she made an apple pie.  She thought of it as she got started on a wedding cake she was making for a couple a city over.

She couldn’t help but think about it.  Was James right?  Should she explore this weird connection she had with Robin?  As she slid her cinnamon rolls into the oven, she let herself think about him.  He was handsome in that rugged, outdoorsman way.  He had kind eyes and a gentle smile.  He was the best listener she’d ever come across, and he somehow knew _exactly_ what to say to her—whether it was to commiserate, to compliment or to offer solutions.  It was as though this connection between them let him see into her very soul.

_Soulmates_.

Rayna pulled in another deep breath, but before she could think further on that (frankly terrifying) concept, there was a knock at the door.  She wiped her hands on the dishtowel and headed toward the foyer.

“Robin,” she said, seeing the man on her doorstep.  “I was just thinking about you…um..I mean…”

He chuckled.  “No need to be embarrassed.  I’ve been thinking quite a bit about you as well.”

“Yes, well…” Rayna stuttered, wondering if her cheeks were now as red as her honeycrisps.  “Um, what brings you to my home this morning?”

Robin gestured behind him.  “I have a couple of people I’d like you to…meet.”

For the first time, Rayna realized Robin wasn’t alone.  He’d brought a man and a little girl with him.  “Please, come in.  All of you.”

“Thanks, Mo…Miss Miller,” the man said, looking aside as the little girl giggled.

“You’re welcome,” Rayna said, brow furrowing.  There was something vaguely familiar about Robin’s companions, but she couldn’t place it.  “I’m sorry, but do we know each other?  There’s something about you…”

“I’m sure I’ve never met Rayna Miller,” the man said carefully before extending his hand.  “Hi, my name is Henry Mills.”

He looked at her carefully, and Rayna got the strangest feeling that he wanted something from her.  He was hoping for… _something_ …but she had no idea what.

She took his hand, gave it a quick, businesslike shake, and then stepped back.  “I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Mills.”

The man sighed and looked away for a moment, but then seemed to square his shoulders.  He gestured to the girl at his side.  “And this is my daughter, Lucy.”

The girl smiled, the dimples standing out on her cheeks.  “Happy to meet you!” she said cheerfully.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Rayna said, something about the girl giving her a little ache at the thought that she’d never had children of her own.  After a moment, she gave her head a little shake, and smiled at the trio in her foyer.  “I have a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls about to come out of the oven.  Would you like to join me for breakfast?”

“Yes!” Lucy said, quickly.  “I _love_ your cinnamon rolls….I mean…I love cinnamon rolls…in general…and I’m sure yours are great…”

Robin laughed and patted the little girl on the shoulder.  “Why don’t you go wash your hands?”

Lucy nodded, and ran toward the kitchen sink, while the adults settled themselves at the kitchen table.

“I’m sorry to descend on you like this,” Robin said, wry look on his face, “but Henry’s my neighbor, and I thought you might want to meet him.”

Rayna felt like she was missing something.  Both men seemed to _know_ something she didn’t.  “Um…well, I’m pleased to meet you.  Have you lived in Seattle long?”

Henry exchanged a glance with Robin, before turning back toward her.  He took a deep breath.  “Actually, no.  I grew up in a little town in Maine, called Storybrooke.  I was adopted by the mayor, _Regina Mills_.  When I was 10, I found my birth mom, and she became the sheriff of Storybrooke.  She was a real _savior_ to that town.”

Lucy rejoined the men, and all three of them gave her intense, expectant looks.  Had they gone crazy or had she? 

“Sounds like you had quite the childhood,” she said, noncommittally.

As one, Henry and Lucy’s faces fell, and Rayna felt (nonsensically) guilty for disappointing them.  The problem was, she had no idea what they wanted from her or how to give it.

“Yeah, it was great.  Never a dull moment,” Henry said.

They fell into a rather tense silence.  “So, why was it you wanted to meet me?”

“Well…um…I was hoping…that is…” Henry stumbled.

“He wanted to hire you,” Lucy spoke up.

Both Robin and Henry looked toward her in obvious surprise.

“Hire me?”

“Yeah,” she said with an earnest bob of her head.  “My dad is _the author_ , and he has a new book coming out in a few months.  We were hoping you’d cater his book signing.”

“Exactly,” Henry said.  “Robin and I were talking, and he told me what an amazing caterer you are, and it sounded perfect.”

“Really?” Rayna said, heart leaping at the thought Robin had been complimenting her to others.  Her eyes met his, and the belief and devotion she saw there staggered her.

“Really,” he answered. “You, Rayna Miller made quite an impression.  I’d recommend your pastries to the queen of England herself, should she need a caterer.”

Rayna felt her cheeks warm with pleasure at his praise.  “I think you might be overselling me a bit.”

“Not at all.”

For a moment, she held Robin’s gaze, getting lost in his green eyes, but then Lucy giggled and the spell was broken.

“I’d love to cater your event,” Rayna said finally, turning toward Henry.  “Just call me sometime so we can set up the details.”

“Great!” Henry said.  “I look forward to it.”

They shook on the deal, and then Henry got to his feet.  “Well it’s been great meeting you, and thank you for the delicious cinnamon rolls, but I’m afraid we’ll have to get going.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

An hour later, the oven timer went off, and Rayna quickly pulled the steaming, golden brown apple pie from the oven and set it on the range to cool.  She started to walk back toward the staircase, when suddenly something white sitting on the chair little Lucy had occupied, caught her eye.

Stooping down, Rayna discovered it was a book with an apple tree on the front.  Curious, she picked it up and flipped through.  It appeared the girl was following in her father’s footsteps.  She’d written a fanciful tale full of magic and witches and villains and heroes, complete with pictures.

Quite an imagination Lucy Mills had.

She set the book down on the counter, making a mental note to give it back when she met with Henry about his book signing.  No doubt the little authoress would want her manuscript back.

 

_Notes:_

_\--So in this installment, Rayna gets some useful advice from her brother, James, and she “meets” Henry and Lucy.  Clearly Robin, Henry and Lucy were hoping that seeing her son and granddaughter would jog her memory, but unfortunately for them it can’t be that easy.  The darkness’s memory curse is too strong for that._

_\--Up next:  Robin, Henry and Lucy brainstorm “plan B”, and then Robin finds himself in James’s pub, where he gets a very unexpected pep talk._


	6. Chapter 6

Robin’s shoulders slumped as he walked into his apartment, and then stepped back for Henry and Lucy to follow him.  It had been a long shot, he knew that, but part of him had hoped…had believed that seeing Henry again would jog Regina’s memory.

Instead she’d been polite, had been friendly even, but hadn’t remembered a thing.  Bringing back the woman he loved was going to be more difficult than he’d anticipated.

Lucy plopped down onto the couch looking downcast herself.  “I thought _sure_ that would work,” she said with a little pout.  “The storybook _always_ works.  But when Grandma Regina looked at it, _nothing_ happened.”

Henry sat down beside her and wrapped a comforting arm around her.  “Don’t be discouraged,” he said bracingly.  “We knew the darkness wouldn’t give up its hold easily.  We knew this was going to be a difficult fight to get back the people we love.”

“But from what you said earlier,” Robin said, coming to sit in a chair across from them, “Henry, you regained your memories as soon as you held Lucy’s book.  What’s different with Regina?”

Henry shrugged.  “I’m the author,” he said simply.  “My wife is another author, and from the looks of her book, my daughter is shaping up to be yet another author.  Maybe that had something to do with it.”

“And don’t forget that Papa has the heart of the truest believer!” Lucy piped up.  “It kind of makes sense, really, that it would be easier to wake him up than other people.”

It was clear the little girl was regaining her optimism.  Robin smiled to himself, seeing so much of her father shining through her eyes, even though she must take after her mother in appearance.  Whoever her mother was.

“Speaking of your book, Lucy,” Henry said, looking around.  “Where is it?”

She grinned mischievously.  “I left it behind.  Thought maybe if Grandma looked over it a little more carefully, she might remember something.”

Henry leaned over and kissed the top of her head.  “There’s my clever girl!  It’s worth a shot, for sure.”

Robin sighed, running a hand through his hair.  “Yes, it’s a possibility, of course, but the likelihood of success is slim at best.  As the little one said, if the book was to jog her memory, wouldn’t it have done so as she read through it?  I hate to put a damper on your infectious optimism, but I’m afraid merely leaving it to chance Regina will start to remember is a risky plan.”

Henry sighed.  “You’re right.  We need a new phase in our operation.  Any ideas what that next phase might be?”

The three were silent for a moment, deep in thought.  Finally, Lucy grinned, jumped to her feet, and crossed the room to Robin.  “I’ve got it!”

“And what is it you’ve got, little one?”

“True Love’s Kiss!” she said, her voice raising in her excitement.  “Grandpa Robin, don’t you see?  True Love’s Kiss is the most powerful magic of all.  It can break _any_ curse.  All you have to do is give Grandma Regina a True Love’s Kiss, and she’ll wake up!  Then we can go back to Storybrook and break the sleeping curse on the town and find Mama and defeat the darkness!”

Robin chuckled.  “Slow down Lucy,” he said, caressing her arm.  “I think you’ve rather let yourself get carried away.  You’re forgetting one crucial piece of information.”

“What’s that?”

Robin sighed and looked down at the floor.  “She doesn’t even remember me, let alone love me.  If I were to simply go up to her and kiss her, I’d likely receive nothing but a slap to the face in response.”

Henry chuckled.  “That is if you’re lucky.  When Killian tried it with my mom in New York, she delivered a swift knee to the…” he glanced at his daughter, “well to a very sensitive part of his anatomy.”

“Just so,” Robin nodded. “We’ve proof that True Love’s Kiss doesn’t work when one of the parties doesn’t remember the other.”

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean Lucy’s wrong,” Henry said after a moment.  “True Love’s Kiss is a brilliant solution, but it just needs to be approached in a different way.”

“What do you mean, lad?” Robin asked.

“The reason True Love’s Kiss didn’t work for Killian with my mom in New York or for Rumplestiltskin with Belle in the Storybrooke hospital or for Grandma and Gramps back in the Enchanted Forest is because their True Love didn’t remember them, right?” Henry asked.  “And if they didn’t remember them, they obviously didn’t love them.  So, the solution is simple.  All you have to do, Robin, is make Regina fall in love with you again.  I think our best hope for success is to turn the next phase of the plan into Operation Cupid.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Later that evening, Robin drove back to Misthaven, his mind unsettled to say the least.  The lad was right; their best chance of getting Regina to remember who she was was to remind her of their love.  It had been a strong, powerful force before his “death” at Hades’ hand.  It had survived “Marian’s” return, all Zelena’s machinations, even the author’s twisted AU.

It was strong enough to cause him to sacrifice his life for her, which, gods willing, gave them what they needed to defeat Hades once and for all.

If only he could find a way to rekindle that love.

Robin felt the nerves bubble up within as he thought about the prospect.  He was as nervous as a lad hoping the win the favor of his first lady love. 

It wasn’t precisely that he feared she’d refuse him; he’d seen a look in her eyes over their short acquaintance.  She felt the pull to him just as he felt it toward her.  They were soulmates, after all, even if she’d forgotten it.  Robin rubbed subconsciously at the lion tattoo on his forearm.

No, what made the nerves dance in his stomach wasn’t a fear Rayna Miller didn’t want him, it was the knowledge that the stakes were so very, very high.  If he failed at wooing Regina into falling in love with him—true, curse-breaking love—their entire plan would crumble.  It was more than his heart at stake here, more than their love story.  It was all of Storybrooke, all of the Enchanted Forest at stake.  If he failed, the darkness would win and millions of lives would be destroyed.

Robin pulled into a metered parking space along the side of the main street of town.  He tossed a few quarters into the meter and then began walking, willing himself to calm down.  Nothing would be accomplished through panic.

What he needed was a plan.

Tomorrow he would contact Rayna and ask her on a date.  Tonight, he needed to determine where in Misthaven that date would take place.   He needed somewhere public, non-threatening.  He needed somewhere fun with a hint of romance.

He first passed Grandma’s diner.  Business was booming, a steady stream of customers coming in and out.  It would seem Grandma’s was the place to go in this tiny little town.  Robin considered it, but then moved past.  Rayna was starting her business venture in Grandma’s.  Not the mood he was attempting to set.

A block past, Robin found himself facing Bella Notte’s Italian restaurant.  This was certainly more like it.  With its small, two person tables, its candle light, its soft music, this restaurant positively shouted romance.  Robin considered it, even went so far as to take the door handle, before eventually shaking his head and deciding to continue.  As far as Rayna knew, Robin was a virtual stranger.  He’d delivered her tree, and they’d had a few subsequent conversations, but he was still a new acquaintance.  Perhaps an overtly romantic setting would scare Rayna.

Robin groaned.  This was bloody impossible!  What did one do on his first date with a woman he loved…but who didn’t remember he existed?  What was the spark that would rekindle the flame?

Turning a corner, Robin found himself facing a bar with a painting of an old-fashioned pirate ship on the window out front.  Emblazoned in red letters around the ship was the name “The Jolly Roger”.  He smiled to himself.  This couldn’t be a coincidence.  Rayna had said her brother “James” owned a bar, had she not?  This _had_ to be it.

Robin stepped inside, deciding to check out this new lead and return to the business of planning his first date later.  Perhaps James could give him some pointers about how to win his sister’s heart.

It was early in the evening yet, so the crowd was sparse.  Robin made his way through the dimly lit interior, grinning at the pirate shanties playing through the sound system, and seated himself at the bar, hoping against hope that a certain pirate with amnesia was working this evening.

“What can I get you, mate?”

Robin smiled, looking into the face of the man who had briefly become his friend during his time in Storybrooke.   Save a few wrinkles near his eyes and the occasional smattering of gray hair, he looked just like he had all those years ago.

“Killian!” Robin said.

Killian’s brow furrowed.  “I think you must have me mistaken for someone else.  My name is James.  James Miller.”

Robin grimaced, realizing this business of keeping straight his acquaintances’ real names and cursed identities was going to be more difficult than he’d anticipated.  “I beg your pardon,” he said, “you reminded me of a man I used to know.  The resemblance is uncanny, really.”

Killian…or James, rather…grinned.  “I do hope it was a pleasant acquaintance.”

“Yes,” Robin said.  “I considered him a true friend.”

James nodded, and then returned to his first question.  “What can I get you?”

Robin ordered a whiskey, and watched as James turned away to pour it.  He waited until the bartender turned back toward him and placed the drink on the bar.  “James Miller.  You wouldn’t, by any chance, happen to be Rayna Miller’s brother, would you?”

James looked surprised for a moment.  “Aye.  Her older brother.  Are you acquainted with Ray?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Robin said.  “I planted a tree for her the other day.  We got to talking, and she told me her recently widowed brother was living with her.

A shadow passed over James’s face, and he clinched his remaining fist, looking down at the wedding ring on the fourth finger.  “Aye.  It was in the accident that took my hand.  Terrible business  Worst moment of my life.”

“My sympathies,” Robin said.  “If you don’t mind me asking, when did the accident happen?  What happened?”

“Well, it was…” James trailed off, his brow furrowing as he looked into space.  “How very odd.  I can’t precisely recall the details.”

“It was a traumatic time, no doubt…”

“Aye,” James said before taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out.  “But I move forward as best I can.”

James stepped away to wait on the next patron to step into his bar, and Robin slowly sipped at his drink.  A moment later, James returned, an odd look in his eyes.

“Did you say you were the landscaper who put in Ray’s apple tree?” James asked.

“The very same.”

“Odd,” James said.  “We were talking about you this morning.”

Robin felt his heart began to pound.  Regina had been talking about him?  “Good things, I hope,” Robin said, trying his best to keep his voice neutral.

James grinned.  “The best.  I think my sister’s become quite fond of you.”

“Has she?” Robin asked, taking a quick, fortifying step.  “That is excellent to hear, as I’ve likewise become quite fond of her.  As it happens, she is the reason I find myself in your establishment tonight.”

“Aye?”

“Yes,” Robin said with a decisive nod.  “I was hoping to fortify my courage, you see.  I’d quite made up my mind to ask your lovely sister out.”

James’s grin grew wider.  “I do believe I can ease your mind on that front.  My sister seems to be positively smitten with you.  If you do find the courage you seek, I can almost assure you you’ll receive a favorable answer.”

Robin found himself matching James’s smile.  Perhaps it would be simpler than he’d feared to convince Regina to fall for him again.  He finished his drink in one gulp and then got to his feet.  “Thank you for that!  What do I owe you for the drink?”

James waved him off.  “On the house, mate.  My sister deserves some happiness in her life, and I suspect you’re just the man who can give it to her.”

_Notes_ :

\-- _Happy 4 th of July to those of you who celebrate it!  It was so nice to have the day off and be able to write for as long as I wanted, rather than trying to cram it in during my work breaks._

_\--Up next:  Rayna finds that something about the storybook Lucy gave her really resonates with her.  Later, Robin begins to put “Operation Cupid” into motion._


	7. Chapter 7

Rayna punched her pillow, turned over and determinedly closed her eyes.  What was up with her lately?  She’d never had trouble with insomnia before, but lately…lately she just couldn’t sleep.

She had this nagging feeling that there was something she’d forgotten, something important, something vital.  _Something_ was hovering just out of her consciousness, but she couldn’t reach it.  She knew instinctively that if she could just _remember,_ everything would make sense.  She’d know exactly what she needed to do.

_Talk it over with Robin_.

Rayna rolled her eyes at her subconscious.  Oh yes, that was a _brilliant_ idea!  She’d just call her landscaper and say “Hi, so there’s something I can’t remember and it’s really important and I thought you could help me with it because…I don’t know.  But maybe if you came by and we talked it through…and maybe if you brought Henry and Lucy with you…maybe suddenly my life would make sense again.”  She was sure that would go over really, really well.

Robin would probably cart her off to the mental hospital.

After a few more minutes of tossing and turning, Rayna sat up with a growl.  She ran her hands through her hair, and then glanced over at the clock on her nightstand with its numbers glowing a bright red, mocking her.  3:13 am.

With a groan, Rayna pushed back the covers, stepped into her slippers and tossed on her bathrobe.  She clearly wasn’t getting any sleep tonight, and forcing herself to lie in her bed was just making her more and more frustrated.  She stayed there much longer, she’d start throwing fireballs.

_Um…what?_

Where had _that_ thought come from?  She looked down at her hands, cupped, palms up.  She could almost _feel_ the energy of holding fireballs within them.

Rayna shook her head.  Forget Robin, if she didn’t get it together soon, she might just cart _herself_ off to the mental hospital.

Maybe a nice cup of cocoa would settle her fevered mind and let her actually get a little sleep.  Moving as silently as she could, so as to avoid waking James, she pulled out a saucepan, poured in a generous helping of milk and let it simmer before adding cocoa and sugar.

The act of cooking, even something as simple as a cup of hot cocoa soothed her.  There was just something about taking raw ingredients, putting them together and transforming them into something else entirely that gave her such satisfaction.

It was like magic.

Rayna ladled a generous portion of the smooth, rich liquid into her favorite mug, topped it with a little whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.  (She had no idea where the idea for cinnamon came from.  She’d never taken her cocoa that way before, but tonight….tonight it just felt right.  There it was again, another half formed thought, half formed memory.  In her mind’s eye she saw a woman with short, dark hair and green eyes.  Someone she’d had a complicated relationship with…

Rayna closed her eyes willing the memories to keep coming.  Hoping the mental picture of this woman would spark something.

But slowly the image faded, and with it whatever memories she’d almost dredged up.

Rayna banged her mug down on the kitchen table with another growl, and a drop of liquid splashed from its interior onto the smooth wooden surface of the table, drawing Rayna’s eyes to the storybook Lucy had left with her.

Curious, Rayna picked up the thin volume and began paging through.  She looked intently at the photograph on the first page, clearly a family dinner.  There was something so achingly, infuriatingly familiar about all of these people.  She looked each of them over carefully until she came to a dark haired woman seated next to a teenaged boy.  Rayna’s eyes widened.  That woman looked just like _her_. 

Not only did it look like her, but she remembered that haircut, remembered the dress the woman was wearing.  This was either a photo of her, or she had a secret identical twin that made the exact same fashion choices.

How could Lucy have a photo of her from a large family dinner she’d never attended?

_Read the book_ , the voice inside her insisted.  _It will help you find the answers you need_.

Rayna had no idea how a little girl’s hand-copied fairytale book could give her the answers to the big questions in her life, but it was 3:30 in the morning, and she had nothing else to occupy herself.  Slowly she turned the page.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_Henry Mills had always wanted to be a hero.  He’d wanted to fight dragons, defeat villains, save the day, see the world.  But he’d never gotten the chance.  He loved his parents and his grandparents and the whole town full of former fairy tale characters who’d adopted him as their own, but they’d always looked at him as a child who needed protecting._

_And so it was when Henry turned 18 and graduated from Storybrooke High, he decided to go on an adventure of his own.  It was time he made a life for himself out from under the wide shadows his mom, his step-dad and his other mom cast._

_“I’ve made up my mind,” Henry told his family one evening after a delicious family dinner at Snow White and Prince Charming’s farmhouse.  “I’m going to buy a magic bean from Anton, and travel to the Enchanted Forest.”_

_His family had tried to talk him out of it, insisting it was far too dangerous to travel to other lands, lands containing ogres and magical beasts of all types, but Henry was not to be dissuaded.  It was time Henry Mills, son of the heroes Regina Mills, Emma Swan-Jones and Killian Jones made his own way in the world._

_And so, he’d packed his storybook and author’s quill in his backpack, bid his family goodbye, and jumped into the portal._

_Henry stopped by his grandparents’ former castle and met the Evil Queen and Robin Hood as they lived out their happy ending.  He came across Ruby and Dorothy as they lived out their own adventure.  He met Mulan and her own band of merry men._

_But Henry was still unsatisfied, for these were still other people’s tales.  He needed to forge one of his own._

_Early one morning he set off once more, intent on walking until he found an adventure of his own.  He walked for long days, sleeping along the road and finding food where he could._

_After a week Henry was beginning to lose heart.  Perhaps there was no adventure for him.  Perhaps his lot in life was simply to be the author, simply to record other people’s adventures.  Maybe it was time to go back to Storybrooke, back to his family._

_He turned, prepared to return to the beanstalk for the bean that would take him home, but suddenly he heard it, the soft sniffing and heartbroken sobs of a woman.  Henry followed the sound deep into the forest until he came upon a wishing well, much like the one in Storybrooke._

_There he found a beautiful woman with skin the color of coffee with cream, a woman with long curling hair and deep, soulful brown eyes.  Henry knew he’d never in his life seen a more beautiful woman._

_“Who are you and why are you crying?” he asked, walking carefully forward._

_The woman whirled around, a dagger in her hand, held before her menacingly.  Henry raised his hands in surrender and asked again. “Who are you and why are you crying?”_

_The woman looked at him suspiciously for another moment, and then lowered her dagger, her whole being seeming to sag with it.  “I’m known as Scheherazade.”_

_“Scheherazade!” Henry said with wonder.  “I’ve heard of you.  You’re the woman who tells stories!”_

_She nodded.  “I came upon a village some time ago that was plagued by a terrible, terrible creature known only as the Darkness.”_

_Scheherazade went on to spin a tale of destruction and terror.  The darkness preyed on the village, kidnapping one villager every night and killing them to take on their life force.  With every new kill, the Darkness became stronger, and the village quickly fell into despair.  Scheherazade knew she could not stand by and let these innocent people die, and so she’d made a wish upon the first star in the east._

_“Grant me the ability to save these people.”_

_And the star had taken on human form and appeared to Scheherazade that very night._

_“Because you are brave and true, Scheherazade,” the star said, “your wish will be granted.  You are a weaver of stories, and with those stories you will enthrall the Darkness and save your people.  But beware!  All magic comes with a price.  Your magic will only last for 1001 nights.  If you’ve not found a way to bind the Darkness once and for all by the morning of the 1002 nd day, the darkness will break free and the damage he will wreak will be catastrophic._

_And Scheherazade had done as the star had commanded.  That very night, she’d offered herself as the Darkness’s victim, but before he’d killed her, she’d asked for one small favor.  “Allow me to tell you a story,” she’d pleaded.  “I am a weaver of stories, and I wish to weave one last story before I die.”_

_The Darkness had allowed it, and Scheherazade had weaved a thrilling tale full of romance and adventure and danger, and slowly, the Darkness fell into a deep, deep sleep.  The next night, as the Darkness began to stir, Scheherazade began a second tale, and the Darkness sunk even farther into sleep.  And so she continued, night after night._

_“But why do you cry now?” Henry asked.  “You’ve saved your village.  You’ve defeated the Darkness.”_

_Scheherazade shook her head sadly.  “I have,” she said, “but tonight is the 1001 st night.  If I can’t find a way to bind the Darkness for good, tomorrow morning he’ll break free.”_

_Henry thought for a moment, and then a smile spread across his face.  “I know how to bind the Darkness once and for all!” he said.  He reached into his bag and pulled out his storybook.  “You are the storyteller, and I am the author.  Perhaps together we can defeat this scourge to your kingdom.  You tell the story, and I’ll write it in my book..”_

_Scheherazade gave Henry a skeptical look, for how could a storybook be the key to defeating Darkness?  But as night fell, and the Darkness began to stir, Scheherazade agreed to the plan, for what did they have to lose._

_That night, as Scheherazade told her tale, Henry wrote it in his storybook, and as they worked, the strangest thing happened.  A door within the book opened, and the Darkness was pulled inside.  The door closed, and the Darkness was captured, bound for good._

_As long as the storybook remained safe, the Darkness was purged from the land._

_The village was so grateful that they threw a celebration for the heroes—the storyteller and her author.  That night Henry and Scheherazade shared their first kiss beneath the pale moon’s glow._

_Slowly but surely they fell deeply in love and married, and in due course that love brought a little girl, Lucy, into the world._

_And they all lived happily ever afterwards._

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Rayna closed the book, and sat back on her couch, closing her eyes.  She felt the strangest sense of pride in the young man, Henry.  She felt like a mother, watching her son come into his own, make his way in the world and find his happy ending.

It was ridiculous, of course.  It was a _fairy tale_ , full of magic spells and darkness smoke monsters and books that had the power to trap evil inside.  It was an interesting story, but it was just that.  _A story_.

And still…something about it resonated in a way that nothing else had since she came to Misthaven….well, however long ago it was she moved here.

Rayna sat up and opened the book once again, _needing_ to read what else was contained within its pages. She read on and on as the dawn slowly broke over Misthaven, stories about the Enchanted Forest, about a town in Maine called Storybrooke, about characters such as the “Savior” the “Evil Queen”, Rumplestiltskin, Snow White and Prince Charming.

There was nothing about the stories that was believable, but with every new word she read, Rayna felt it resonate with her more.  She had the strangest, most insane feeling that what she read in that storybook was the absolute truth.

Rayna didn’t know how or why, but this book made sense in a way nothing else ever had in _years_.  She needed to know why, and she knew where to turn to get her answers.

She needed to call Robin Locksley.  She only hoped he didn’t think she was too insane when she told him the reason.

Rayna reached for her cell phone, placed her thumbprint on the sensor until it opened, and hovered over the telephone app.

But before she could open it and scroll through for Robin’s number, the landline suddenly began to ring.  Rayna jumped slightly before reaching for the cordless headset.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Rayna?” came the cultured, British accent from the other end.  “This is Robin Locksley.  I hope this isn’t terribly forward of me, but I’ve called to ask you for a date.  Will you accompany me to dinner tonight?”

 

_Notes:_

_\--And so the storybook is slowly wearing away at Regina.  She didn’t get all of her memories back just by touching it, but reading through it is definitely getting her thinking.  So now she wants to meet with Robin, and he wants to go out on a date with her….things are starting to shape up quite nicely._

_\--I don’t remember who it was who first suggest Scheherazade for Henry’s wife, but I_ loved _that idea!  It would be so beyond perfect!  Someone who’s known for her stories and the author?  Talk about a perfect match!  I tried to write their story in the style of what I think the storybook would be like, so hopefully that worked for you!  Obviously their “happily ever afterwards” didn’t last forever, but just how the Darkness got out of the book is a subject for a later chapter (I hope…)_

_\--Up next: Rayna agrees to a dinner date with Robin. Before the date Robin, Henry and Lucy make a game plan, and then Robin takes Rayna out to dinner. Things go very well…at least until Rayna asks point blank about the storybook and Robin answers honestly.  How will Regina take the truth?_


	8. Chapter 8

Robin held his breath as he waited for Regina’s reply (he simply couldn’t bring himself to call her by her cursed name, not in his own mind, at least), but for a moment that felt like an hour, there was silence on the other end of the telephone receiver.

And then she laughed.

Robin frowned, wondering how the blazes he was to interpret _that_ reaction to his invitation to dinner.  Did she find the prospect so ridiculous she could do nothing but laugh?

“Might I inquire just what is funny?” he asked, somewhat formally

Her laughter stopped gradually.  “I’m sorry, Robin,” she said, humor still lacing her voice, “I didn’t mean anything by it.  It’s just ironic, you asking me out.”

“Yes?  And why is that.”

“Because,” she said, “I was just working up the courage to call you and invite you to dinner.”

Robin let out a long breath, a relieved smile draping his face.  “We think alike; must be soulmates.”

He’d made the statement flippantly, trying to keep the mood lighthearted, but she suddenly got very, very quiet and Robin feared he’d pressed her too hard.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s fine,” Regina hastened to assure.  “It’s just weird you used that phrase…”

Robin was silent, waiting for her to continue.

“The thing is,” Regina said, “I had a really restless night.  Lots to think about.  Sometimes it feels like my life, this life now isn’t _real_ , if that makes any sense, and, well, the only thing that feels real, that feels right right now is you.  Oh goodness, that makes me sound like a crazy person.  Things _not_ to do when discussing plans for a first date with someone…”

“No, it’s fine,” Robin said quickly.  “I understand precisely what you mean, and believe it or not, it doesn’t sound crazy at all.  Rayna I feel a definite connection to you, and I doubt there’s anything you could say to me that would scare me off.  Now I sound like the one with the obsession.”

Regina laughed and Robin felt his heart turn over at the sound.  It had been so long, so very, very long since he’d heard that sweet sound.  All of a sudden an intense longing for her came over him.  He needed to go slow and steady with her.  He couldn’t afford to scare her off, but he wanted her, _needed_ her so very much and being with her but not really being _with_ her was sweet torture.

“I know you asked me to go out to dinner with you, but would you be terribly disappointed if we stayed in instead?” Regina asked.  “I make a mean lasagna.  Key is red pepper flakes; gives it a kick.  It’s just, I was hoping we could talk.  Really talk, and restaurants aren’t always the most conducive to conversation.”

“Lasagna sounds lovely,” Robin assured.  He knew just how magical that dish could be prepared by his true love’s hands.  He remembered evenings working together with her, getting dinner together, sometimes working brilliantly together, sometimes burning their dinner as flirtatious food preparation turned to long, heated kisses.  “But you must allow me to bring the wine.”

“Now that I will not turn down,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice.  “How about you come over around 6?”

“As my lady wishes,” Robin said, his heart feeling lighter than it had in years.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

At 6:00 on the dot, Robin stepped out of his car, tugged on his suit jacket and ran a hand through his hair.  He took a deep breath trying to settle the nerves, grabbed his bottle of merlot, and walked to Regina’s front door.

That morning, Robin had no sooner finished his call with Regina than he went to Henry’s.

“So?” Henry asked as he opened the door and issued Robin into the living room where Lucy waited, “how did it go.”

“Your mother and I have a date for this evening,” Robin said with a grin.  “She plans to prepare lasagna and we’ll have a quiet evening in.”

“Lasagna!” Henry said with a smile.  “Mom only makes her famous lasagna when she’s really trying to make an impression.  Sounds like Operation Cupid is right on track!”

“Yeah!” Lucy agreed, trotting up to give Robin an exuberant hug.  “She’s already falling in love with you!  You’ll have your True Love’s Kiss and break the curse in no time!”

“Slow down, young miss,” Robin said with a laugh.  “It’s just a first date.  I must play my cards carefully and not push your grandmother farther than she’s ready.”

“But she will be ready soon,” Lucy insisted.  “I know it!”

“I sincerely hope so.”

Henry went to the kitchen where he was preparing what looked like a veritable breakfast feast—eggs, pancakes, sausage, hot cocoa, fruit.  “Perhaps I best go.  I don’t want to interrupt your breakfast.”

“Don’t be silly, Robin,” Henry said, turning off the last burner and setting the platters of food on the kitchen table.  “Lucy and I cooked enough for an army.  Stay and have breakfast with us.  We can start planning your next move.”

And so over a delicious breakfast any restaurant would have been proud of, the three of them held a strategy meeting.  In the end, it was decided that Robin would spend the evening subtly trying to jog Regina’s memory…but most importantly, focusing on developing their relationship.  In the meantime Henry and Lucy would go down to Killian’s pub (as it was also an eating establishment, Lucy would be permitted in) and see if they could make any headway in bringing back his memories.

Plan for the day in place, Robin had gone in to work and done his level best to focus on the tasks at hand, rather than on the raven-haired beauty who was to be his date for the night. Promptly at 5:00 he’d headed home, showered and carefully dressed for the most important date of his life.

After a few moments, Regina opened the door, and Robin’s jaw dropped.  She was gorgeous.  She always was, of course, but Regina taking pains with her appearance could nearly stop a man’s heart.  She wore a sleeveless red dress that reached her knees, and floated about in a delightfully feminine way.  Her hair was curled gently from her face, and her makeup was perfectly applied so as to accentuate her already lovely features.

“Hi,” she said, almost shyly.

“Hello yourself,” he said leaning in to kiss her gently on the cheek.  “You look stunning Reg…Rayna.”

“Thanks,” she said, stepping back and inviting him in.  “You look pretty damn good yourself.”

For a moment they merely stood in her foyer simply looking at each other, grinning like idiots, but then Regina seemed to snap herself out of it.

“Thanks for the wine,” she said, turning back toward the kitchen.  “The lasagna’s just about done, I’m just throwing together a salad.  How about you pour us some wine.  Glasses are in that cabinet on the left.”

Robin obediently retrieved the wine glasses and poured the rich, dark red liquid for both of them.  “To our first date,” he said raising his glass to her.

“Hopefully the first of many,” she replied, gently clinking her glass with his before taking a dainty sip.

Their eyes met, and Robin could see the attraction in her eyes.  He’d vowed to himself he’d take things slowly, careful not to scare her by coming on too strong, but gods help him, when she looked at him like that he couldn’t help himself.  He deliberately set his glass on her counter and then slowly leaned toward her, giving her every opportunity to turn her head, reject his kiss.

But the last thing she seemed to want to do was stop the natural progression of things.  Setting her own glass down, she rested her arms on his shoulders and raised to her tiptoes.  He leaned further down, intoxicated with the sweet scent of her perfume…

And then the oven buzzer went off.  Regina stepped back with a groan.  “Sorry.  Lasagna’s done.”

Robin took a deep breath and let it out on a chuckle, determined to return to light banter.  “No need to be sorry for that.  I happen to be positively famished.  Shall we adjourn to the dining room?”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

After flipping the switch to turn on her very realistic looking electric fireplace, Rayna settled on the couch beside Robin, automatically scooting into him when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.  Laying her head on his shoulder, Rayna smiled gently to herself.  This felt so good, so _right_.  She felt safe, protected, cherished, loved in Robin’s arms, and it felt like they’d been doing this—spending evenings together—forever.

“Dinner was an absolute delight,” Robin said, tracing soft patterns on her bare arm with one finger.  “I’m quite sure there’s not a restaurant in town that could have matched your lasagna for sheer deliciousness.”

“Thanks,” she said, softly, shifting to kiss his cheek gently.

Dinner had indeed been everything Rayna had hoped it would be and more.  She’d set the table carefully, lighting two taper candles to provide perfect mood lighting, and the two of them had talked and laughed through the entire meal.  Rayna couldn’t deny it.  She felt a stirring of something inside when she was with Robin.  If it wasn’t totally ridiculous—this was, after all, only their first date—she’d say that _something_ she felt was love.

Robin seemed _perfect_ for her with his rugged good looks, his kindness, his very evident sense of honor and chivalry, his ability to look into her eyes and seem to see to her very soul…and then smile, as though he liked what he saw.

It was more than she’d gotten from any relationship before.

Was this what they called love at first sight?

“On the phone this morning, Rayna,” Robin said, pulling Rayna from her reverie, “you said you wanted to talk to me.  Please, feel free to tell me anything.  Anything at all.  You won’t shock me or scare me off.”

Rayna felt her heart race.  She believed him, believed he was convinced of what he said, but still.  How does one go about saying “I read a little girl’s fairytale book and it feels real.”?  Rayna got to her feet and grabbed the book from her table.

“The little girl you brought over the other day,” Rayna began softly, sitting back beside him., “Lucy, wasn’t it?  She left her book here after you left.”

“Yes,” Robin said with a small nod.  “She told me.  Did…did you have a chance to glance over it.”

Rayna flipped open the cover and smoothed her hand over the picture of the family dinner.  “More than that,” Rayna said.  “I read it.  All of it.  Cover to cover.”

“And,” Robin said in a strangely intense voice, “what did you think?”

Rayna sighed, flipping a few pages.  “It was the strangest thing.  I know these are fairy tales.  They talk about the Enchanted Forest and magic and things like ogres, but…”

“But?”

“But I got the strangest feeling of déjà vu from it,” Rayna said quickly.  “It didn’t feel like just stories; it felt real.  And what’s even weirder, some of these pictures… _I_ seem to be in them even though I’ve never been to a town called Storybrooke.”

There was silence for a moment, and Rayna felt her cheeks flush.  “You must think I’m crazy.”

He turned her toward him and shook his head.  “Not at all,” he assured.  “There is, I’m sure, a perfectly good explanation for your connection to this book.”

“Yeah? Rayna asked, feeling her frustration mount.  “And just what is that explanation?  Tell me the truth, Robin.  What _is_ it about that book…about the man you brought and his daughter…about _you_ that feels so very, very familiar?”

Robin looked at her intently his hand quickly flexing and then relaxing on her shoulder.  Finally, he nodded slightly, evidently coming to a decision.  “Yes, I think it’s time you hear the full truth.  Rayna…this will no doubt sound utterly mad to you, but the reason you feel such a connection to this book is that it’s not merely a book of fairy stories.  It’s a book of history.  Your history.  All of the people in this book are quite real.  These ‘fairy tale’ characters, as you call them, are all real, living, breathing people.  And the reason that some of those illustrations look so very much like you is…because they are.  That woman named Regina Mills?  That’s you.”

Rayna startled, her heart racing.  “Robin…what you’re saying is impossible!  Are you trying to ask me to believe that I am,” she consulted the book once more, “the Evil Queen?”

He shook his head vehemently.  “No, not anymore.  You were once a villain, consumed by vengeance after a broken heart, but you’ve chosen love, you’ve chosen family, you’ve chosen hope, and it has made you as much of a hero as any of them.”

Rayna stared at him for a moment, half expecting him to burst into laughter and tell her he was simply joking with her.  But Robin would not pull such a cruel joke. 

“But that’s…that’s _crazy_!” she said, getting to her feet and beginning to pace.  “How could I be a totally different person?  I can’t believe I’m even asking something so ridiculous, but if this is true how is it possible I don’t remember _any_ of it?  How is it that I live here, on the opposite side of the country?”

“There was a curse,” Robin said.  “It ripped you to the Land Without Magic and wiped your memories.”

Rayna paced for another moment, feeling the panic begin to bubble up.  “A curse?  Land Without Magic?  Do you have _any_ idea how crazy you sound?”

Robin sighed deeply, and looked down.  “Yes, of course I do, but Regina, I assure you that every word of it is true…as is the love we share between us.  You may not remember, but we were soulmates.  I’m the man with the lion tattoo; the one who was prophesied to be your great love.  We were separated for such a very long time, and I feared I would never see you again, but here you are, and Regina, my darling, I need you to trust me.  I need you to believe.”

The panic grew, now feeling like a living thing crawling within her.  It was too much, all way, way too much.  She couldn’t handle it, couldn’t handle the feelings, the confusing “memories” the total insanity of it all.  She _had_ to get away.  Now!

“Robin,” she said in a voice that wasn’t quite steady.  “I’m sorry, this is just…I think it’s time for you to go.  I can’t…this can’t be…please!  Just go!”

Robin got quickly to his feet and came to her, putting his hands on her arms.  “Regina, please…”

“It’s _Rayna_!” she said.  “My name is Rayna Miller!”

He took a step back, instantly letting her go.  “I’m sorry.  Rayna…”

“Please Robin,” she pleaded.  “It’s too much.  Thank you for a wonderful evening, but it’s time for you to go.”

Robin peered at her for another long moment, but finally sighed in defeat.  “I’m sorry.  I’m sorry for ruining what was one of the best nights I’ve had in ages.  I know it’s a lot to take in.  Just…just call me, anytime of the day or night if you want to talk.”

And with that Robin walked out that door.  Rayna’s heart dropped as she heard the soft click of the shutting door.  Why did she suddenly feel like she’d lost one of the most important parts of herself?

 

_Notes:_

_\--Sorry about that rather angsty ending, there, but things were going altogether way too well.  You had to know it wouldn’t be that easy for Regina to start believing didn’t you?  Think of this as this story’s version of the canon scene in Zelena’s farmhouse where Regina saw Robin’s lion tattoo and ran away._

_\--We’re rapidly reaching the end now!  Only one more full chapter left, and then I’ll probably add a CS themed epilogue to deal with the sleeping curse currently keeping all of Storybrooke in eternal slumber.  I had thought to try to continue this story and follow the heroes as they battle the darkness and attempt to save Scheherazade, but I don’t think that will happen for 2 reasons.  1. I have NO idea where that story is going…and now that we’re starting to get spoilers for canon season 7, and it doesn’t seem to be anything like what I’m setting out in this story, the inspiration just isn’t there. 2. This is an OQ focused story, but after next week’s chapter, OQ’s story will effectively be told.  They will, of course, be an important part in the overall “defeat the bad guy” effort, but they won’t be the focus anymore.  It just seems like it would be more appropriate, should the inspiration ever strike, to turn that story into a Henry/Scheherazade themed sequel._

_\--Anyway…Up next:  Robin feels utterly defeated, and Regina feels utterly miserable.  Can she move past her fear and the seeming impossibility of it all and take a leap of faith?  (I certainly hope so!)_


	9. Chapter 9

Robin trudged dejectedly up the stairs and down the hall to his apartment.  He unlocked his door, flipped on a light and then headed straight for his whiskey bottle.

He’d failed.  He’d more than failed.  He’d cocked the entire operation up royally.

Not only had Regina not remembered this evening, he’d scared her off and it was anyone’s guess if she’d ever so much as agree to speak to him again.

Robin took a quick swig from his glass, feeling the tears sting the back of his throat.  He loved her so bloody much he could almost feel it as an ache in his chest.  They’d been separated for so many years and he’d finally, _finally_ found her again and within a matter of days he’d driven her away.

He could have sworn she was starting to believe, that her memories were starting to poke through.  When she’d asked him about the book, he should have been noncommittal, made some vague reference to the universal truth found within stories or some such nonsense, but it was as though he couldn’t help himself.  In that moment it had simply become too much.  He could no longer play the role of the landscaper who was a virtual stranger.  He _had_ to let her see the truth, let her see his heart.

But he’d miscalculated, and now he’d harmed not only his own heart, but his chance to get back to Roland and the little daughter he’d not even had a chance to name.  He’d destroyed Henry’s chance to find and save his true love.  He’d destroyed the hopes of all those slumbering in Storybrooke.

It had all been riding on him and he’d failed.

Robin cursed, setting down his glass and putting his head in his hands.  He could only hope Henry and Lucy had more success breaking through Killian’s curse.

The doorbell rang and Robin cursed again, knowing it couldn’t be anyone but Regina’s son and his daughter.  Well there was nothing for it.  The story must be told eventually.  Now was as good a time as any.

“So, how was the big date?” Henry asked as soon as the two of them crossed the threshold.  “Is romance in the air?”

Robin stalled, asking if they’d like something to drink, taking as long as he could get by with to fetch them bottles of water from his refrigerator.

When he finally joined Henry and Lucy in the living room, he sat heavily on his couch and sighed, fixing his eyes on the coffee table in front of him rather than on his guests.

“It didn’t go well, did it, Grandpa Robin?” Lucy asked softly.

Robin shook his head, took one more fortifying sip of his whiskey and then looked the little girl in the face.  “I’m afraid not, young one.  I rather spectacularly failed.  Not only did I not share True Love’s Kiss with Regina…I fear I’ve driven her away from me altogether.”

Henry leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs.  “I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as all that.  Tell us what happened.”

And so he had.  In short, choppy sentences Robin recounted the events of the evening.

“I was so sure she’d begun to believe,” he said finally, “so convinced her questions _meant_ something, that I threw caution to the wind, and she all but bodily threw me from her home.”

When Robin looked up once more at the end of his tragic tale, he caught Henry and Lucy sharing a look and then turning identical smiles in his direction.

“Are you quite certain you heard what I just said?” Robin asked.  “Your reaction seems curious.”

“Don’t you see, grandpa?” Lucy said.  “Grandma Regina is _scared_.”

“Yes, I dare say she is,” Robin said, his brow furrowed, “but why does that make you smile?”

“Because it’s proof that what you said struck a chord,” Henry answered.  “She’s starting to remember, and it all seems so unbelievable that she thinks she’s going crazy.  You telling her the truth…well it only made that worse.  She’s starting to remember, so we’re in a far better position than you think.”

“But she turned me away, lad,” Robin said.

“And do you know how many times my mom Emma ran away?” Henry asked.  “More than I can count.  But with every moment that seemed _too much_ for her, she came closer to believing, and eventually she accepted all of it—home, family, true love.  Everything.  Operation Cupid may have suffered a setback tonight, but it wasn’t destroyed.  Not by a long shot.”

Robin felt his optimism returning in spite of himself.  The truest believer and his equally believing daughter were a balm to his troubled spirit.

“You just need to give her time, grandpa,” Lucy said, coming to sit beside him and taking his hand.  “She needs to get used to the idea and then she’ll come to you.  True love never fades.  Sooner or later she’ll realize that even if it sounds crazy, she wants to believe you and be with you.”

“Sooner or later,” Robin said with a grimace.  “But there are so very many people in need of our help—your mother for one, Lucy, my son and daughter for another—that waiting, doing nothing is an agony.”

“We can only do what we can do,” Henry said, the worry covering his face for a moment at the mention of his wife.  You’ve done the best you can, and now we have to wait.”

Robin nodded.  “And how did the two of you fare this evening?  Did you make any headway in bringing back Hook’s memories?”

Lucy shook her head with a slight frown.  “None at all.  Grandpa Killian didn’t want to listen.  He didn’t want to talk about Grandma Emma.”

“Said it was still too painful to talk about,” Henry said, “and when we told him mom’s still alive, just in a sleeping curse, he got angry.  Told us he didn’t know what cruel game we were playing but he wouldn’t be party to it.  Whatever the darkness did to this curse…it buried everyone’s real memories down deep.”

“So hardly a red letter night for any of us,” Robin said taking the final sip of his drink.

“No, but tomorrow is a new day with all kinds of possibilities,” Lucy said.  “And it doesn’t matter what the darkness does to us.  We’re going to win.  Love is stronger than any darkness.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Rayna spent a miserable week after her first (and only) date with Robin.  It had been an unqualified disaster.  Oh it had started out nice enough.  She’d felt herself fall harder and harder for him as the evening progressed.  He was…everything she’d ever wanted in a man.

But then he’d started spouting absolute nonsense—about fairy tales being real and the storybook being a history book and her real name being Regina and the two of them being soulmates because of a lion tattoo.

How was anyone supposed to believe something like that?  Robin Locksley was certifiable.

And yet…no matter how much she tried to reason with herself, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was _truth_ in what he told her.  She’d read Lucy’s storybook so many times in the past week that she nearly had it memorized, and with every new reading, more and more flashes of….something…came to her.  Little things—feelings, emotions, moments in time.  It was like there was an entirely different set of memories trying to break through her consciousness.

But that was entirely ridiculous.

For several days Rayna tried to go about her business, putting the whole unsettling incident out of her mind, but something always drew her back.  It was more than just the memories.  More than just the unsettling feelings. 

Rayna couldn’t put the incident behind her because, quite simply, she couldn’t put Robin behind her.  It made no sense, they’d only just met, had only one date, hadn’t even _kissed_ , but still there was no denying it.

She was in love with him, deeply, passionately, irrevocably in love.

There was no denying it anymore, no changing it.  Robin Locksley was an important, maybe even vital part of her heart and it didn’t matter how crazy he was.  She needed to see him again, needed to explore the budding relationship that had ended so abruptly a week ago.

And so it was that one week to the day after their disastrous date, Rayna found herself standing in front of Robin’s apartment door, finger poised before his doorbell.  She took a deep breath, smoothed her opposite hand down her soft, cotton dress, and then pushed the button.

It felt like a lifetime went by between the ringing of the doorbell and the moment the door finally opened, and Rayna feared her heart would beat entirely out of her chest with her nerves.  But the moment the door opened, the moment she saw Robin’s face, it was as though everything suddenly fell into place.  Whatever the difficulties, whatever the impossibilities, this was _right_.  She was meant to be with him, and she could no more deny that than she could make her heart stop beating.

“Reg…Rayna,” He breathed, the moment he saw her.  His eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and he took a small step toward her, his hand raised as though he meant to cup her cheek, before he dropped it with quick, jerky motions.  “Forgive me; where are my manners?  Would you care to come in?”

Rayna stepped inside and watched as Robin closed the door and the slowly turned toward her.  “I…I was hoping maybe we could talk,” she said, hands clasped in front of her.  “I couldn’t stop thinking about how we left things, and I just wanted to apologize for my reaction.”

Robin’s eyes softened, the lines around them deepening as he slowly smiled.  He stepped forward, putting both hands on her upper arms.  “You’ve no need to apologize,” he said softly.  “I know how it all must have sounded.  You must think me quite mad.”

“No,” she said quickly.  “Or at least if you are, I must be too, because…even though it _can’t_ be true, something about it…I just can’t shake.”

“Really?” he asked, his smile growing.  “That’s what you came to tell me, that you’re starting to remember?”

She shook her head slowly, her curls bouncing around her face with the movement.  “Actually, there’s more, and…well, this is the part that might make you think _I’m_ crazy.”

“Never,” he said gently.  “You can tell me anything, Rayna.  Anything at all.”

Rayna took a quick breath and then slowly let it out.  She deliberately looked into his eyes.  She wanted to see his reaction to what she had to say.

“Robin,” she said, “we’ve only known each other for a matter of days, but…but it doesn’t matter.  I couldn’t stay away.  I couldn’t put you out of my mind.  The thing is, I think…no I _know_ …I’m in love with you.”

For long moments he merely looked down at her, his expression inscrutable.  Rayna began to worry that she’d misread things, that she was coming on too strong, that _she’d_ scared _him_ away this time.  “Robin,” she said finally, “please say something.  I know it’s too early to say the l word and I know this probably sounds crazy but…”

Robin suddenly surged forward, his lips crashing into hers.  Rayna was startled for a moment, but then the feel of his lips against hers, the feel of his arms holding her tight, overwhelmed her.  Her heart feeling as though it might burst from her chest, tears filling her eyes, she wrapped her arms around his neck, tilted her head and kissed him back with all the love in her heart.

And that’s when it happened.  Rayna felt a burst of something that felt like a force field issue from their joined lips and spread in all directions like a shock wave.  Suddenly memory after memory crashed over her.  The first curse, rescuing Henry in Neverland, meeting Robin, falling so desperately in love, Hades, losing Robin, somehow rebuilding her life despite the Robin-sized hole in her heart, Henry growing up, Lucy, the darkness, the new curse…

Regina broke the kiss, cupped Robin’s face in her hands and let the tears flow in rivers down her cheeks.  “Robin?”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Robin knew the moment she remembered him, the moment the memory curse was broken.  The tears came to his eyes and he let a couple spill over as he reached up to cup her face as well, both of them smiling and laughing.

“Regina,” he said.  “You remember?”

“Everything,” she said, raising on her toes to kiss him again, this time gently, slowly, tenderly.  “Robin I remember it all.”

They kissed for long moments, both holding each other so tightly it was almost painful.  It had been so long, so desperately long.  Robin felt as though his heart was beating again after nearly fifteen years of lying dormant.  Slowly Robin maneuvered them until they were seated on the couch, Regina lying on top of him, caressing every bit of skin she could reach. 

He would gladly go on kissing this woman for years, decades, the rest of his life, but eventually the need to breathe forced him to gently pull away, his hands coming up to dry her tears.

“How?” she croaked finally, reaching up to run a hand through his hair.  “Robin you were hit by the crystal.  I saw you die.  I held your body.  I buried you!  How are you here?”

Robin heard the agony in her voice, and leaned forward to wrap her once again in his arms, his face nestled in the crook of her neck.  “Hades lied, my darling.  He lied.  The crystal didn’t kill me; it merely sent me here.”

“All this time?” she asked, pulling back and looking into his eyes.  “All this time you’ve been here on the other side of the country.  Why didn’t you ever come back?”

“I tried,” he assured.  “I did everything in my power to get back to Storybrooke, to get back to you, but no matter what I tried, it was as though Storybrooke had disappeared.”

Regina began sobbing, aching, heartbroken sounds and Robin could do nothing but hold her, rocking her gently as she let the years of pain and grief bleed off.

“I missed you so much,” she said finally.  “Sometimes I thought the grief would kill me.  Sometimes I wished it would.”

“I’m so desperately sorry for the pain I caused,” he said, voice far from steady. 

She shook her head.  “No, don’t apologize.  It’s not your fault.  All you did was sacrifice your life for me.”

“And you’ve no idea how relieved I am to find it worked,” he said.

They kissed again, long, passionately, desperately.

“Roland and my little girl…?” Robin asked when they finally broke apart again.

“They’re fine,” Regina reassured.  “Roland went back to the Enchanted Forest with the merry men and your daughter?  We named her Robyn, and she’s perfect, beautiful, happy, healthy, as fiery as Zelena, but with your gentleness and honor to mellow her out.  She just celebrated her fifteenth birthday, you know.  When we get back to Storybrooke….”

Regina stopped abruptly, her eyes widening in panic.  “Oh God, Robin, Storybrooke!  There was another curse!  They’ve been cursed again!”

“Calm yourself,” he said gently.  “They’re fine.  Under  a town-wide sleeping curse, but fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” he said, “and Regina, I know it now!  We will win.  Whoever this darkness is, whatever it wants, it’s as good as defeated already.  With you as it’s enemy it doesn’t stand a chance.”

She leaned forward and kissed him softly once again.  “So what do we do.  How do we fight against the latest villain in our midst?”

“We talk to Henry and Lucy, develop the next phase of our operation,” Robin said getting to his feet and offering her a hand up, “but first, my love, we have fifteen lost years to make up.”

His heart full and brimming over, Robin slowly lead Regina back to his bedroom.  There would no doubt be a hell of a fight waiting for them in the morning, but for now, for this night it was just him and his true love, his soulmate, and he was determined that he wouldn’t waste a single moment of the second chance they’d been given.

_Notes:_

_\--So there you have it, basically the end of this story.  Regina and Robin end up together and true love conquers all—including curse-induced memory loss.  The darkness isn’t going to know what hit it when Regina and Robin (and Henry and Lucy and Killian and Gold) come for it!_

_\--This chapter ended up being more difficult to write than I anticipated.  How do you give a reunion scene the emotional resonance it deserves when one of the people spent the last fifteen years believing the other was dead?_

_\--Up next: A CS-themed epilogue where we follow Killian from the moment he “wakes” (as a result of OQ’s TLK) to the moment he goes back to Storybrooke desperate to save his Swan…and their two little cygnets._


	10. CS Epilogue

CS Epilogue

James took a seat on his favorite park bench near the lake.  He’d gotten into the habit of coming to the lake every day to watch the sunset.  It was always so bright and so vivid here, and so peaceful.  It was the one place he could truly relax, let the stress of the day and the sorrows of the past bleed off.

Or at least it was so before Henry and Lucy had come into his bar.

The odd thing is that as soon as Henry and Lucy appeared, the lake had stopped being a haven for him.  If anything it had intensified this strange sense of restlessness he had.  He couldn’t shake the feeling that he desperately needed to do something, that _someone_ needed him.

He’d felt a strange immediate connection to the pair the first time he saw them.  It was like meeting up with a long lost loved one after a long separation.  It was ridiculous, of course.  They were complete strangers to him, but he couldn’t talk himself out of the feeling and he found himself hoping they’d come in to see him again.

Well, at least James had believed he wanted to see them again.  When they actually came back…well that meeting was an unqualified disaster.  There’d been a very definite intensity about Henry that evening, as though he were running out of time or patience.  He’d barely offered the usual pleasantries before he started in on his tale.

His utterly impossible tale about a savior and true love and magic and him being, of all ridiculous people, Captain Hook. 

James had listened politely…until Henry mentioned Emma.  “I know you think she’s dead, James,” Henry said “But she’s not.  Emma is alive, just in a sleeping curse!  She needs you!  My mom _needs_ you to remember and come save her.”

The mention of his wife’s name had been like a dagger to his heart.  He doubted he’d ever heal from the wound her death caused him.  The pain gradually, but surely turned to anger.  How dare this stranger say such things?

“Look mate,” James said with a thunderous frown, “I don’t know what game you’re playing at, but it stops now.  My wife, my strong, beautiful Emma was killed in an accident, and I don’t at all appreciate you using her name to get to me.”

“But it’s true, Grandpa!” Lucy said.  “Grandma Emma _is_ alive.”

They’d continued on and on about a place called Storybrooke and a sleeping curse and True Love’s Kiss, and finally he’d had enough.  He’d all but thrown them out of his establishment and told them not to come back.

Henry had ushered his daughter out, but before he’d stepped through the door, he’d returned to the bar once more and placed a business card in front of James, telling him that if he ever changed his mind, if anything ever changed, to call him at any time of the day or night.

Now, a week later, he was still unsettled from the encounter.

An insistent chirping sound broke James from his reverie, and he looked up to see the swan and her cygnet swim up to the shore near him.  She chirped again, ruffling her feathers and flapping her wings in irritation.

James smiled to himself and reached for the loaf of bread he’d brought with him, tearing off a bit and tossing it to the swan and her baby.

“So very insistent today, aren’t you, Swan?” he said.  It wasn’t the most inventive name for the bird, but somehow it had just felt _right_.

Swan had been coming to meet him every day for as long as he’d come to this lake, usually bringing her baby, sometimes coming alone, but always more than ready for the food he provided her.  He’d felt an odd kinship with the regal animal, something he couldn’t explain.  Somehow she’d made him feel less alone, she’d eased some of his grief.

But now, the sight of his swan didn’t relax him or put him at ease.  Now it increased his agitation, his odd feeling that he must do…. _something_ …or all would be lost.

James reached for another piece of bread to throw the swan, when suddenly a strange energy, like a rainbow tinged force field washed over him.

Wave after wave of memory hit him.  _Emma, Henry, Lucy, Storybrooke, Emma, the curse, EMMA!_

Killian got to his feet, laughing as he looked over at the swan finally, finally realizing why he felt such a kinship with her.  She was the perfect reminder of his wife.

Killian reached into his back pocket for his phone, pulling it out and dialing as fast as his fingers could fly.  It was picked up after two rings.

“Hello?” Henry said.

“Henry, lad,” he answered, “it’s Killian.  I remember!  I remember everything.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

They’d booked a flight back to the east coast the next morning, all six of them.  They’d made quite a ragtag group, Killian had no doubt—he, the lad, his granddaughter, the Crocodile, Regina and Robin.

Killian had been overjoyed to see Robin, even more so when he learned he had the outlaw and the queen to thank for the return of his memories.  But despite his joy at seeing the man who had become a mate in the small time they’d known each other, Killian was uneasy, on edge.

“Don’t worry, Grandpa,” Lucy had reassured, “they’re okay.  They’re just under a sleeping curse.  The darkness didn’t hurt them.”

As curses go, it was not the worst, to be sure.  The solution was no more complicated than a kiss.  Still, it was his loved ones who were suffering the effects.  He’d feel a damn sight better when Emma was awake and back in his arms.

“You’re sure that’s all it is, Lucy?” he’d asked.

She’d nodded exuberantly.  So like her father, this one was.  “They’re fine Grandpa.  I was spending the night with Grandma and Eva when the curse struck.”

_Eva_.  Killian’s heart turned over at the mention of his and Emma’s daughter.  With her blonde hair and her fire and courage, she was the very image of her mother, and Killian hadn’t known it was possible to love another person as much as he loved his little girl.  It had been like that from the first, from the moment nearly thirteen years past when Dr. Whale had placed her in his arms.  She, her mother, Henry and Lucy were his very life.

And as long as any one of them were in trouble he couldn’t rest until he did everything in his power to save them.

Killian had never been overly fond of flying in the metal monstrosities Swan referred to as “airplanes”, but it was by far the fastest way to get to his family, so he’d manfully walked up the gangplank.  (Henry had laughed at his use of the term, saying he didn’t know what the hallway leading into the plane was called, but it most certainly wasn’t a gangplank.)

The drive from the airport back to Storybrooke had felt interminable, but finally, finally they’d arrived back to the village Killian had long since seen as his home.

“So what now?” Regina asked, looking at the unnaturally still and silent main street of town.  “Everyone’s under a sleeping curse.  Do we just…start kissing people?”

Henry shook his head.  “Wouldn’t work, mom,” he said.  “You have to be True Love for a True Love’s Kiss to work.  We need a way to save everyone all at once.”

“Anyone have any ideas?” Rumple asked.  “I for one would like to get home to Belle and Gideon.”

Lucy stepped forward and took Killian’s hand.  “I think I know!” she said.

“Aye, little love?” Killian asked, stooping down until he was on eye level with his granddaughter.  “And what solution have you come up with?”

“Grandma Emma is the savior, right?” Lucy said.

“Aye.”

“So it’s her job to save everyone,” Lucy said.  “I bet if we can wake her up, everyone else will wake up as well.”

“And waking up Mrs. Jones should be no difficulty at all,” Robin said, his arm coming around Regina’s waist. 

“Henry?” Killian asked, turning toward his step-son. “Would you like to kiss your mother awake?”

The man in question smiled but shook his head.  “I think it’s your turn to do the honors.  You guys have been True Loves for years.  I think it’s about time you had a kiss to seal the deal.”

Five minutes later the entire group walked up the porch stairs of the home Killian shared with his wife and daughter.  Killian opened the front door and saw his wife lying peacefully in her favorite recliner, fast asleep, Eva curled up on the couch beside her.

Killian felt his heart turn over at the sight of his girls.  He loved them so bloody much it was nearly an ache in his chest.  They were everything, _everything,_ to him.  Killian made it to Emma’s chair in five steps, quickly kneeling before her, raising his one good hand to cup her cheek.

She was so beautiful, even now after all these years.  The fine lines around her eyes and the corners of her mouth were the only indication that any time had passed at all.

“Emma,” he said, voice gruff and not quite steady, “I love you to the depth of my being.”

Leaning forward, he joined his lips to hers, and it was like coming home.

For a moment she remained still and unresponsive in his arms, but finally her lips moved under his, her hand came up to card through his hair, and the characteristic energy field of a True Love’s Kiss emanated from them to cover the whole land.

“Killian,” she said, breaking the kiss and smiling up at him, “I knew you’d come for us.”

“Daddy?” Eva said from his side.  “We’ve been waiting for you.”

Killian laughed, crushing his daughter to him with a hug.  There was yet an evil to destroy, a darkness to defeat once and for all, but for now, for this one perfect moment, all was right with his world.

 

_The End!_

_Notes:_

_\--And with that, “Under the Apple Tree” comes to a close!  I primarily write for Captain Swan, so after I gave Regina and Robin their happy ending, I couldn’t resist giving one to Captain Swan as well._

_\--Also, I_ had _to give CS a TLK, because that’s one relationship milestone they sadly never got in canon._

_\--Now that all of Storybrooke is awake again, and all the old True Love couples are united, they can present a united front against the darkness, save Scheherazade, and in general hero it up.  However it happens, I’ve no doubt they will be successful, because that’s what this big, crazy family does!_


End file.
